Legend of the Astral Dragon
by XxApplexFrostxX
Summary: Legend of Spyro story with an Anthro twist. Eleanor Carter, a young, bullied girl that has a dragon and human parent. Left behind and forgotten during a field trip, and now on an amazing adventure with a young purple dragon, that she's only met in her dreams. Let's join her and find out the secrets of the Astral Dragon. Anthro design belongs to JazztheTiger.
1. Birth of Two Dragons

Birth of the Two Dragons.

* * *

 **In the Year of the Dragon, in a world beyond the realms, I, like all the others, awaited the birth of the dragon for whom the prophecies foretold.**

 **But the Dark Master had heard the prophecies as well. I should have hidden the eggs long ago, but I… I thought we were ready, I thought we were safe… Oh… how I was wrong.**

* * *

Ignitus, a large, elderly, fire dragon, made his way to the hatchery, his head hung low. He knew the world the young dragons were going to be born into. But he had no time to dwell on that, as one of the eggs was of dire importance to prevent the annihilation of his once proud race. After opening a door with his flames, Ignitus entered the hatchery and began looking over the groups of eggs, which consisted of five fire dragons, two shadow dragons, one fear dragon, three ice dragons, two electricity dragons and one earth dragon. At the far end of the room sat a lone egg resting on a highly decorated dais. Unlike the other eggs, this one was pure purple. He bent over the egg to make sure it hadn't been harmed in any way. He smiled when he saw no cracks were visible.

A Caucasian, human hand gently stroked over the egg. Ignitus looked over to see it was his human, close childhood friend, Lorraine. In her arms was a small bundle, wrapped in a blanket.

Suddenly, a loud rumble was felt through the entire temple. The temple shoot violently and debris and rubble began to fall. Ignitus and Lorraine looked up in worry. A bright yellow, slightly younger dragon came running into the room, completely out of breath.

"Save them. The Dark Armies have come." He yelled.

Ignitus looked down at the purple egg, fear registering as a single horrifying thought entered his mind; they've come for the purple egg. He looked at Lorraine.

"Take him. Get him out of here." She told him.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the egg and lit the torches that opened the secret escape tunnel. He took flight once the tunnel gave out. Lorraine followed after Ignitus and ran down another path. Eventually, he made his way down to a river. He landed and began looking downstream. The water was moving rather quickly so there was no chance of setting it adrift on its own without it getting damaged. Looking down, he saw a lone mushroom cap sitting on the riverbank. Gently setting the egg inside, he pushed the cap into the water and watched as the egg floated downstream.

"May the Ancestors look after you" Ignitus said to the egg, "May they look after us all".

Ignitus continued to watch the egg, until he heard a celestial cry coming from above him. He looked up and saw an astral-like eastern dragon flying through the sky, following the egg down the river. With one last cry, the dragon disappeared into the night sky. With that seen, Ignitus took off back to the temple, only to find that something terrible has happened.

* * *

 **Eventually the egg came to rest in a distant swamp, where a family of dragonflies gathered 'round, wondering what magnificent creature could possibly live inside it. They didn't have to wait for long.**

 **What emerged from the egg frightened them at first, but finally amazed and astonished them. It was a purple dragon, who they eventually adopted and raised as one of their own. They named him Spyro and he grew up alongside Sparx, the young dragonfly who was born on the same day.**

 **In fact, the two were almost like brothers. And a more oddly-matched yet compatible pair of brothers the world had never seen.**

 **As for Spyro, he, like all of us, accepted the world into which he was born, believing he was one of them. A big purple one of them, true, but one of them nonetheless.**

* * *

Elsewhere, Lorraine made her way to the Ancient Grove. She stowed away in an pirate ship's cargo bay and remained hidden. Lorraine removed a bit of the bundle with reveal, a pale, elven baby face. On the other side, poked a light green, dragon tail.

The baby opened its hazel, near green, eyes and looked at Lorraine. Lorraine smiled, "It's okay, young one. Wherever we're going, you'll be safer there."

Lorraine looked up and heard the celestial cry. The baby cried in unison with it. The baby's cry sounded similiar. Lorraine looked at her child and smiled sweetly.

* * *

 **Lorraine and the child found refudge across the Cadmus Ocean, in a land named Canada. There, she met two other humans, who didn't mind her Half-Dragon child, and welcomed them to their home.**

 **They named the child Eleanor. She grew up alongside the humans, never knowing the other half of her heritage. However, being born with scales and tail will lead to being feared and shunned.**

 **But her mother's love and her step-family's acceptance was more than enough to keep Eleanor's spirits high.**


	2. Destined Encounters

Destined Encounters.

 _ **11 years later…**_

 **Eleanor's POV.**

 _ **-Beep- -Beep- -Bee-**_

I silenced my alarm clock and sat up from my sleeping form. I stretched and brushed my hands through my hair. It was in a large mess, indicating I had the same dream again. _*Sigh*_ Fifth time this month.

I jumped out of my bed and made my way to the bathroom, to start my morning routine. I tiredly brushed my hair and teeth and washed my face. I stared at the mirror and saw a blurry image of a person. I found my glasses on the counter and put them on. The blurred image cleared into a ghostly pale Caucasian girl, with chin-lengthed, dark brown, near red hair, and hazel, near green eyes.

Around her eyes, I saw very dark rings, indicating years of no sleep or crying. I've been crying in my sleep again.

Oh, hello there. Nice to meet you. My name is Eleanor May Henderson. But, my friends call me Ellie or Elle. I'm 11 years old and I'm just your normal elementary school student from Sparwood, Canada. And I'm the youngest of two daughters. By three years, at least. Well, if you cound being half-reptilian 'normal'.

My hands and forearms are covered in pastel green scales and my hands are clawed. My forearms were covered in vine-like markings.

The lower half of my body is covered with the same scales with an azure underbelly. My legs were covered by the same vine marks.

I have a prehensile, reptilian tail, that reaches just a foot over my head can carry things 5 times my own weight.

And my legs and feet are reptilian, or dragon-like. So I can't wear shoes and have to walk digitigrade (Walk on my toes).

Anyway, back to my life. I got dressed into my casual wear, which consisted of a pair of dark green overalls with lighter green vine patterns, and a white t-shirt underneath. A white, hooded poncho with same vine patterns. I know, I sound like a hippie. Let me give you guys a little secret; I kinda am. But, I'm clean and I don't sound like one.

I walked into my room and laid on my bed, staring at my dragon poster. I've always liked dragons. So powerful, very majestic. I felt like I'm connected to these creatures. Well, of course I would be. Dragons are flying, fire-breathing reptiles. Well, that's what school teaches you. My train of thought was broken by my father's voice.

"Eleanor! Breakfast is ready." He called.

Well, Steve Henderson is not really my father. But, he behaves like one to me. I never knew my real father. And my mother turned to the only person she felt closer to. So, that makes Steve my Step-Father.

I got my school stuff into my backpack and made my way to the dining room. My older step-sister, Samantha, was already in the dinning room, sitting next to my favourite chair.

Steve placed a plate in front of me and Sammy. On my plate was waffles with strawberries. Sammy just had toast with jam.

"Hey, Ellie. Are you looking forward to your field trip?" Sam asked me.

I just continued eating my waffles and said nothing. My class has a habit of taking field trips to odd places every three weeks. Today's trip was gonna be a surprise. Without a doubt, I'll be left behind again!

Sammy and I finished our breakfast, got our backpacks and made our way to school. We always start with taking Sammy to her high school. Being 15 years old and all.

Half-way to school, Sammy and I walked past an empty street. I couldn't help but look over to the street. I saw an, anthropomorphic purple dragon, that was around my age.

He was wearing a cream, long-sleeved shirt with purple design patterns, a light blue sash over his mid-section, and a pair of deep green pants. ( **A/N: Skyloft Link from Skyward Sword.** ) I was able to see him this time.

His scales were a deep purple with a yellow underbelly. His spiky spines were amber with a red membrane. His horns were the same color as his underbelly. His wings were similar to his spines. On the tip of his tail was an amber spear head. I think he could see me, cause he was staring at me with his deep purple, innocent eyes.

The tension vanished as soon as Sammy spoke up, "Ellie, are you feeling alright?"

I looked at Sammy and nodded my head.

"Did you see something?" She asked.

I looked at the street again and it was empty. The dragon was gone. It was like he was a hallucination, or a ghost. I shook my head, then continued down the road to school.

Sammy looked at the street herself, shrugged then followed me. Sammy dropped me off at my school and made her way to her school.

Registration and making sure everyone was prepared for the field trip went by quickly. My class and I entered the bus, me sitting on my own, and the vehicle made its way to the port. The class and I entered the boat and it made a short trip across the Cadmus Ocean, until we arrived at a our destination.

Our destination was a large swamp. It looked like nothing of this world. The class' teacher instructed we devided into groups of three and stay close. However, my team had other plans and ventured out further into the swamp.

My team and I ventured until we found ourselves in a clearing of a swamp full of mushrooms as big as trees. It was beautiful. Then, I heard footsteps and buzzing.

I quickly my team's hands and hid behind the nearest bunch of mushrooms and toadstools, and saw the purple dragon from before, and he was accompanied by a glowing, golden dragonfly that was wearing a cyan vest coat.

They were talking in a foreign language, but I was able to understand them like they were speaking English.

"What do ya think they're talking about?" The boy of my team asked.

"I dunno. I never studied Draconic." The girl of my team answered.

"They're gonna play a game." I answered in a whisper.

Then the purple dragon turned to the vine in the center of the clearing and covered his eyes. The dragonfly flew off somewhere.

"…Eight, nine, ten… Here I come!" The purple dragon called in a deep, yet sweet voice.

I looked beside me and noticed my classmates were gone. I banged my head against the trunk of the mushroom. Left behind and forgotten again!

He began walking around a small section of the swamp. He and his dragonfly brother were playing a game of hide and seek, though it ended up to be a chase in the end. The dragonfly flew around the area, then eventually hid behind a tree.

"I see you my little glowing friend." The purple called, catching his brother. The dragonfly came out of his hiding place in a dramatic fashion.

"Seeing and catching are two different things, big boy." He smirked and flew off toward a pathway.

"Yeah, you better run." The dragon challenged with a small chuckle and began to follow him.

On his way, the dragon reached to a small ledge. Fortunately it was big enough for him to jump across, which he did, and he continued to follow his brother. When he caught up to him, the dragonfly flew off a short distance. It was covered in thorns. The only way across was either flying, or across the loose branches.

The dragonfly looked back and asked his reptilian brother, "What's the matter little Spyro? You can't fly?" Then, he teased, "Oh, that's right. You walk everywhere. Hmm, that's too bad."

I tilted my head. The purple dragon's name is Spyro, huh? Sounds very fitting.

"You're toast when I catch you!" The dragon, Spyro, shouted, reacting to the tease.

Spyro dashed across the casum, using the branches. The branches gave out under his weight, but they came back up. I followed through the mushrooms. The dragonfly flew off once his brother caught up with him.

"Aaah, must be tough to lose all the time, Sp- aaah!" The golden dragonfly started, but was swallowed up by a creature that looked like a hybrid between a frog and a venus flytrap, he had flown backwards toward. "All right let me out of here, you overgrown fungus!" The dragonfly shouted from inside the plant, then called out, "Spyro, seriously, lend me a hand here, will ya brother?"

"Geez Sparx, I dunno. Frogweed's gotta eat to." Spyro joked, hoping his words would knock the cockiness out of his brother.

Spyro and Sparx. Oddly matched, yet one cannot be without the other. I couldn't help but smile.

"Spyro, whack it!" Spark yelled to his dragon brother, "Do something. I'm your buddy. My wings are getting moldy."

Spyro sighed and gave the plant a few well placed hits. The plant, Frogweed, spat Sparx out, causing him to collide with Spyro's chest and fall to the ground.

"Ugghhh… now I smell almost as bad as you do." Sparx moaned. He got back up into the air and said rather quickly, "Oooh, and that's pretty bad. See ya later, sucker!" Then he flew off again, without saying thanks.

"So much for gratitude..." Spyro sighed, unaware that he just voiced my thoughts.

Spyro continued to follow Sparx through the swamp, smashing barriers and beating any Frogweed that kept popping up. I followed as quietly as I could. Finally, Spyro saw Sparx entering a cave blocked by a giant skull of, what looked like, a long exinct dragon.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Spyro told Sparx, "We're not allowed in there!"

"Pffft… excuses, excuses." Sparx smirked, then called, "Catch up or give up, Chunky!"

Spyro jumped up and struck at the rather large teeth with his tail, which crumbled and gave him an entrance. Spyro entered the cave. I followed by going over the cave.

"Where has that little gnat gone now?" I heard Spyro mutter, as he reached halfway through the cave.

"Has anyone seen a giant purple thing around here? I seem to have lost mine." Sparx's voice echoed through the cave.

Spyro followed the source and quickly caught up to him.

"You know this is getting a little boring… aaah AAH!" Sparx started before a giant, hairy creature swooped down and grabbed Sparx, stuffing him in a lantern. It looked like a hybrid between a baboon and a hyena.

"Sparx!" Spyro yelled following the creature as it jumped up to a ledge, where its smaller buddies were laughing.

"I thought all youz guys were gone." The creature said in a dull tone.

"You miserable coward, let me go!" Sparx yelled. The creature let out a growl then started laughing.

"Don't let him get away!" It commanded.

Both of the flunkies jumped down and attacked Spyro. Spyro took an offensive stance. My eyes widen in shock, he knew martial arts as well. Spyro easily dispatched the smaller creature, but more seemed to be coming from out of nowhere. At some point, the leader started throwing sticks of dynamite. Spyro had to knock them out of the way, making them explode at a distance and even hit some of the enemies. He was just able to finish them off, until Sparx spoke up again.

"Let me out of here and fight me like a… thing… whatever you are. You pathetic wretch!" Sparx yelled. The leader grabbed the lantern Sparx was trapped in, let out a growl, and jumped down.

"I've had about enough out you!" He roared and prepared to stomp the lantern with Sparx still in it.

"Sparx, look out!" Spyro yelled.

Suddenly, He opened his mouth and the next thing he knew, a torrent of flames shot out, smacking into the leader, who let out a yelp in fright and jumped up to an adjacent ledge.

"Wha hoo… was that fire dude?" Sparx asked in astonishment.

"Take care of 'em … I gotta report to Cynder…" The leader yelled.

I wasn't gonna let him escape. I appeared from the thicket of mushrooms, and tackled the leader off the cliff. He hit his head quite hard and fell unconscious. I looked over and saw that Spyro was getting out-numbered. I and helped the dragon.

Once the last of the creatures were defeated, Sparx cried out, "Get me out of here, Spyro! I think my wings are singed!"

Spyro quickly hit the lantern, which broke open and let Sparx fly out.

"You okay?" Spyro asked.

"You almost torched me, dude!" Sparx answered, folding his arms.

"Worry about that later." Spyro told him, as he walked over to me. He smiled, "Thank you, for helping me out."

I looked at Spyro and gave him an assuring smile, then my head was filled thousands of thoughts. A dragon just spoke to me like I was normal! My entire clas has possibly left me on this island. And my mother doesn't know where I am!

I started to feel extremely light-headed and darkness began to cloud my vision.

* * *

 **Spyro's POV.**

The strange creature looked at me and gave me a small, genuine smile, then began to topple over. When Sparx and I ran over to help her, she fell to the ground and was out-cold. Sparx checked on her. I recognized her as the same creature from before. She wasn't an illusion!

"Oh, that's perfect." Sparx sighed in a sarcastic tone, "The girl's fried. Your fire-breathing must've overloaded her brain."

I carefully lifted the creature on to my back, which wasn't very difficult, she was lighter than she looked, and I took her back home, so she could rest up and tell Mum and Dad what happened. Sparx followed right behind me.


	3. New Friends

New Friends and New World.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

"So I'm just about to blow the top off that place and kick that guy's booty, when Spyro let loose some serious flame, dude. No joke. Flames. From the mouth." Sparx explained.

Sparx and Spyro had been telling their parents the story of what had happened when Spyro blew out flames and I appeared. I had just come to a couple of hours ago. Talking about story of my life.

A normal field trip with exploring and getting left behind. Helped a young purple dragon rescue his golden dragonfly brother, and they talk to me and I can understand them! My family is not gonna believe this.

"I was just trying to help." Spyro explained.

"Some help!" Sparx snapped with a chuckle, "You nearly turned me to ashes, dude." He turned to his parents, "Mom, Dad, you should seen him. He came out breathing fire! Alright? I tell you, it was crazy!"

The two dragonflies just looked at each other. By the looks on their faces, they knew about their son not being a dragonfly.

Sparx's mouth just hung open, "You don't believe me!" He cried, then he looked at his dragon brother, "Spyro, tell 'em…"

"It's true, Dad. I swear." Spyro, answered, "I just got real mad, opened my mouth, and whoosh! Flame city."

"It's not that, Spyro. I believe you both." The blue, male dragonfly told his son, then he scratched the back of his head, "It's just that... Your mother and I knew that this day would come."

"What day?" Spyro asked with a raised brow. This got me interested. Does Spyro not know he was really a dragon?

"The day when we would have to tell you the truth." The dragonfly answered with a sad look.

* * *

 **So that was the night that Spyro learned he wasn't a dragonfly after all, but in fact an exile from an unknown, distant land.**

* * *

"So, you mean... I'm not your real son?" Spyro asked.

"You are our real son." The green and brown, female dragonfly explained with a small smile, "It's just that you came from somewhere else." Then her smile fell, "Far away, where wars rage on and on, and the innocent always seem to pay the price."

"That sounds a lot like my home." I spoke up. The family gasped in surprise and looked at me.

After a while, the family calmed down and I introduced myself and explained that I was from a land where humans were the dominant race and nothing like this land. No magic, no dragons and no talking animals in general. The family introduced themselves. I already knew Spyro's and Sparx's names. And the parents were named Flash and Nina.

* * *

 **It wasn't long after that night that Spyro decided to venture forth and find his home.**

 **Eleanor had decided to come with him, for she had no idea what to do now that she was here.**

* * *

"So that's it, huh?" Sparx asked Spyro, "Leaving Sparx behind at the old homestead? Not a care in the world, don't look back?"

Spyro and I were just about to take off and find the place that Spyro came from, with Flash and Nina following to send us off. Sparx had followed us, and had been trying to convince Spyro not to leave for the past ten minutes.

"This is your home, Sparx." Spyro told his brother, "But I just found out that my home is out there somewhere. And I've got to find it. Besides I'm not leaving you behind, I'm just leaving you where you belong."

"Well I thought I belonged with you, 'coz I'm always with you." Sparx reminded, "But I guess I was wrong, huh? I'm sure I'm wrong on a lot of things. You know what? You're right. I'm wrong."

With that, Sparx took off. I shook my head lightly.

"Don't worry about him, you two." Flash told Spyro and I. "You know how hotheaded he can be. You'll both see him when you get back."

Spyro hung his head. Apparently, he didn't like the fact that he was leaving his only family. I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. I found that Spyro and I were roughly the same height. Excluding his horns, Spyro and I are roughly around 4 foot 10 inches tall.

"Now, now Spyro." Flash said, trying to cheer Spyro up, but Spyro shook his head, "Keep your head up, your nose clean, and use that breath of yours wisely. All gifts come with a price."

"Don't listen to your father's preaching, Spyro." Nina spoke up, lifting Spyro's chin. "Just be yourself. It's all any of us can do." Nina looked at me and smiled, "Oh, and good luck trying to find a way back to your home, Eleanor."

I smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Miss Nina. I hope so too."

* * *

 **So, hard as it was, Spyro left the only family he'd ever know and journeyed on, with Eleanor at his side, to where he did not know.**

* * *

Spyro and I walked down a path, made by the mushrooms. Spyro was sulking during the way. Trying to think of a way to cheer the young dragon up, I spoke up.

"This kinda reminds me of a Hallowe'en prank I pulled on my sister." I began my story.

"What's 'Hallowe'en'?" Spyro asked me with a raised brow.

"Never heard of Hallowe'en? Bless my soul." I said with a smile. Then I explained, "Halloween is a holiday, in my world. We dress up as classical monsters, and visit neighbours to recieve treats. Or pull scary pranks on our friends. We only do it during the night. Adds to the tension."

Spyro nodded in understanding and I continued my story, "My sister and I were on our way to a neighbour, that lived near a graveyard. My sister dared me to enter the graveyard and stay there for five minutes. I agreed and entered. I decided to stay there for 10 extra minutes. My sister got worried and entered the yard, looking for me. I got dressed into my phantom costume and shouted 'Boo'. My sister screamed and cried for Mum." I finished and giggled.

Spyro's eyes widen and he burst into laughter. I laughed with him and smiled. Cheering Spyro up was a success.

Suddenly a bunch of cackling started coming from above us, as Spyro and I walked through the swamp. I looked up but saw nothing. I shrugged it off, thinking it was just my imagination. Spyro and I continued walking down the path. I head more cackling, and this time, when I looked up again, I saw a bunch of the same apes that attacked Spyro and Sparx, jumping from the giant mushrooms.

I gently nudged Spyro's shoulder, catching his attention, and pointed up. Spyro looked up and saw the last of the apes landing on top of a mushroom. Quickly, we took off down the path. The way was blocked by some sort of mushroom/spider hybrid creatures, which Spyro easily defeated with his flames, definitely creatures that don't exist in my homeland.

Spyro and I had just gotten up an incline, when the sound of fluttering wings behind us, and golden glow coming into the corner of my eye, announcing Sparx's arrival.

"Spyro." Sparx called, "So, uh, me and the old man were chatting and this whole belonging thing, you know, came up. And we decided that best friends belong together, even if one of them is purple and does have some weight issues, while the other is lanky and pretty much worthless in a fight."

I lightly smirked at Sparx for his remark, "You haven't seen me in a fight yet."

"Weight issues, huh?" Spyro asked with a raised eyebrow, then chuckled, "At least I've never been turned into a lantern".

"Oh please! Lantern, schmanturn." Sparx said with a shrug and a smile, "Now let's see what's out there."

Spyro and I rolled our eyes. It was obvious that Sparx doesn't trust me yet, and doesn't want Spyro getting too friendly with me. Eh, he'll grow to like me in time. After taking care of a few more giant spiders, a group of apes, that attacked us a couple of days ago, went on the attack.

Spyro was able to have an easier time with them. While myself, who, for obvious reasons, could not have fire come out of her mouth, simply had to make do with the martial arts I was trained in. Thanks to this, I was faster, stronger and more agile than an average human. In fact, my speed, strength and agility was level to Spyro. Wait...

Spyro and I had just taken the last ape out when a new enemy appeared; three tree-like monsters. Two of them swarmed Spyro, while the third went after me. Spyro found that he had to constantly avoid their attacks, but was able to defeat them both in the end.

I, however, was having no such luck. The monster that had gone after me was either too big or too heavy for any of my attacks to do anything to it. Once or twice, the creature had knocked me down, but I was still able to roll out of the way of the next attack.

Unfortunately, the monster was able to get the better of me and take the legs out from under me. The creature raised a club it was holding and I instinctively held my hands in front of my face. I didn't notice that my underbelly and vine markings were glowing a psionic cyan. That's new. They've never done that before.

"Eleanor, look out!" Spyro yelled, trying to get the creatures attention.

Suddenly, as it brought the club down, the creature stopped moving. The creature dropped me. It started floating up in the air a few good feet, glowing in an cyan aura.

I got up; hands still raised, staring at the creature. I waved my hands and quickly shot them forward. The force hit and the monster and it fell to the ground with a shattering thud, causing it to break apart just like the other two had.

"OK, can someone please explain to me what just happened?" Sparx asked, folding his arms.

"I have no idea." Spyro said in astonishment.

I looked at my hands in astonishment. I was somehow able to use psychokinesis. I wasn't sure if that was really cool, or really freaky. My heart was racing. I shook my head of the thought and calmed myself.

My underbelly returned to its azure color, my vine marks returned to their dark pastel green, and we continued along the trail. After fighting another group of creatures and apes, which led me to use my new psychokinetic abilities more often. Spyro, Sparx and I stopped to take a break at a clearing. Suddenly, a loud roar was heard, striking us with fear and caused us to start running.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Sparx screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Ahhhhh!" Spyro yelled, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Aaaaahhhh!" I shouted, covering my ears and following Spyro.

Spyro, Sparx and I finally managed to stop at another clearing, believing we were now safe from whatever caused the noise.

"Breathe, Sparx old boy! Go to you happy place!" Sparx breathed.

"What in the world was that?" Spyro asked in pure shock.

"I have no idea." Sparx gasped. "But I'm going that way. Far from it!"

With that he took off again, with Spyro and myself right on his tail section.

* * *

 **Which brings us to the moment that Eleanor and Spyro's journey really began. When they and I finally met... Again... for the very first time... Ahhh, it's a long story.**


	4. Ignitus

Meeting Ignitus.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx and I had been running through the forest for the last 10 minutes. We didn't care how long we had to run; we just had to get as far away from whatever caused that roaring. After a while, the trail leveled out to a cave of sorts. Unfortunately there was something sitting in the way, and it stood up when Spyro, Sparx and I got closer.

This new creature was a dragon, same family as Spyro was, but much larger. It stood about 6 foot 5 inches tall.

It had bright orange scales with dark brown spots here and there, and a tan underbelly. Red, fiery looking crests went down from the top of its head and ending near his fire-like tail-tip, which were various shades of yellow and red. Fiery red frills were on its shoulders and on the sides of its head. It had two sets of golden horns, two large ones in a tornado-like fashion and two small straight ones. Its wings were dark red and the membranes were a burnt yellow.

He wore an elder monk outfit, along with a bamboo staff, for support. I've seen this dragon before, but from where and when?

Spyro stared in alarm, I quickly took a defensive stance and Sprax just gulped, "And I thought you were a big one. Goodness..."

"You're... You're alive." The dragon said in a gentle, male and slow voice, looking directly at Spyro, but then hung its head, "But it's too late... Too late..."

I lowered my stance and looked at the dragon. He felt sad and full of regret. Why did he feel this way? Wait, how did I do that? First the psychokinesis, now I can feel other people's emotions? This is getting too much for me to handle. But, it's feels... normal.

"Too late for what?" Spyro asked, the shock getting to him, "Who are you? Do you know me? Where do I come? What are you? What are we? WHAT AM I!"

"You mean you don't know?" The dragon asked, confused.

"Does it sound like he knows?!" Sparx asked.

"You're a dragon." The dragon answered, "When you were an egg, it was my job to protect you..." He added in a sullen tone, "It was my job... To protect all of you."

I rubbed my chin, as I went deep into thought. This dragon must've been a guardian of some sort. What was special about 11 years ago? Yeah, I learned that Spyro, Sparx and I are about the same age. According to the Chinese zodiac it was the... You've got to be kidding me...

My train of thought was broken when the dragon spoke to me, "Uh… who or what are you?" He asked.

I looked at the red dragon and bowed in respect, "I'm sorry. My name is Eleanor Henderson. I came here from across the Cadmus Ocean."

The dragon gave me a look. The same look Samantha and Steve gave me when I told them about my curiosity with dragons.

"There were others?" Spyro asked.

"Others?" The dragon said, snapping out of his little trance and making my eyes narrow at him, "There were. There were four of us… Guardians that is…" It added, noticing the look of shock on Spyro's face, "And we had one job: ensure that all the eggs were hatched. It was the Year of the Dragon, after all, and our survival depended on those eggs… but the Temple and the Grotto are now gone… overrun by…"

At this point the dragon could no longer continue. I lightly smiled and folded my arms. Called it on the guardian thing. But, there must be something this dragon isn't telling us.

"Temple?" Spyro asked, curiosity settling in, "What temple? Can you take me? Can I see it? Where I came from, I mean?"

I looked at the dragon and tilted my head in interest. I'd like to see this temple as well.

"No, no..." The dragon said, shaking his head, "Who knows what forces occupy it now. What state it's in."

I narrowed my eyes at the dragon.

"You don't understand." The dragon continued, "After they came for you…"

"They?" Spyro asked, "Who is they? And why did they come after me?"

"Because the prophecies spoke of a Purple Dragon, one born only once every ten generations." The dragon answered, "You."

"'You'. Does that mean him?" Sparx asked, pointing at Spyro, "Wait, this guy? Spyro is some special once in a purple thing?" Then Sparx smiled in disbelief, "Ha ha, I think you might have mixed that one up. Wooo, that's a little… bit of a stretch. I heard some, ah, doosies in my day, but that takes the cake."

"Spyro, is it?" The dragon asked, receiving nods from both Spyro and myself, "Well, Spyro, I assure you that I'm telling you the truth."

I tilted my head in full attention.

"The Dark Armies attacked, intent on destroying the eggs and killing the rest of us. I had managed to send the egg downriver. After they took control of the Temple, the Dark Armies laid siege on the other islands. We were at war." The dragon began his story.

"For many years, we fought all over the islands." The dragon continued. "Brutal clashes with the armies of the Dark Master, who was intent on preventing the prophecies from coming true. The other three Guardians and I lead our small but valiant forces into battle after battle against our ruthless, mercenary foe. Then, when we were beginning to turn the tide… Cynder came."

"Cynder?" Spyro and I asked in unison.

"Yes, Cynder." The dragon nodded, "Cynder was… is… monstrous, horrific, ferocious, a black dragon that fills the skies with terror, an unstoppable force of nature…"

"Uh, yeah, you had me at ferocious." Sparx interrupted, "Listen, sounds like that thing that was chasing us guys."

"Yes, she still searches for me…" The dragon said, "And years ago I watched as Cynder plucked the other Guardians from the fields of battle, like so many ripe grapes on a vine. Without them, our cause is lost. Only I, Ignitus, managed to escape. Not that it matters. Cynder now rules all… and I sit here wondering what might have been. What else I might have done".

"Wow… sounds… fun." Sparx said, turning to Spyro, "I wanna hang out with this guy".

"Yeah, why have you given up?" Spyro asked Ignitus. "I just found out that I'm this special dragon, and you tell me that all is lost? That I have no home or family left? I've come too far to give up now. I want to see where I come from."

"Hold up, savior boy, were you not listening to this guy?" Sparx asked, "He talking about flying dragons, and war, and horrible… This is bad stuff, alright? I'm not sure if we're hearing the same thing."

"Yes, Spyro, it's not as simple as that." Ignitus said. "It's true the prophecies spoke of a Purple Dragon destined to put his stamp on this age, but the prophecies didn't foretell the devastation that surrounds us now."

"Not all prophecies are THAT direct." I spoke up, earning an understanding nod from Ignitus.

"Maybe you're right, but I'm willing to try." Spyro said, "I want to take the first step." He looked at me, "Eleanor, you with me?"

"Of course, Spyro." I answered with a small smile. Since I see no other way of getting home, I might as well enjoy my time here, and see why that pulse of power brought me here.

Sparx stared at Spyro and I in bafflement, "You're actually gonna go along with this lunatic?"

Ignitus thought for a moment then nodded and turned around. "Very well, we'll go. You deserve to see your beginning, before it all ends."

Spyro and I set off after him while Sparx followed behind, calling, "Am I the only one sane here? He's telling us we're doomed, alright? That's when I go, ah maybe we should head back into the forest with the flowers and the fun stuff..."


	5. Temple and Grotto

The Grotto and Temple.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Sparx and I had been walking - or rather I was walking and Sparx was sitting on my shoulder - for a couple of hours now. I sensed we were getting really close to the Temple now, and we hadn't yet encountered any resistance, except for some frogweed and a couple of mushroom spiders, which I easily dispatched.

It was weird heading there, primarily because of the way I was able to find out the directions. When I closed my eyes at a fork in the road, to try and blindly guess the way, the area around me appeared in front of me in some kind of spiritual mist. This wasn't my new empathetic ability. Before I had any clue what was going on, the mist moved to the right. I followed and it ended right at the Temple.

After a couple minutes, Sparx and I reached a doorway, which I assumed was part of the outer wall of the Temple. Seeing as there were no handles on it, I decided to examine the door, to see how to open it. It didn't take me long to see what was wrong. Sparx immediately flew off my shoulder.

"So will it open, or not?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't think it'll be easy." Then I backed away from the door and pointed to the statues, on each side of the door, "You see those statues?"

"Yeah? What about them?" Sparx asked.

I croutched down and began drawing a diagram of the door. Above and below a straight and thick line, indicating the door, I drew two circles, "The way I see it, if there are two statues on this side of the door, there must be two other statues on the other side." Then, I drew two arrows sticking out of the top circles, indicating that the statues were moved, "If something moved the other ones out of place, this door is locked indefinitely."

"Great, so we're locked out?" Sparx moaned.

I smiled and wagged my finger at Sparx, "Not exactly, my glowing insect friend." I stood up and pointed to a ledge, that is blocked by wooden vines, "If the apes did move the statues, they must've found another way in." I looked over at a tunnel opening, that was covered by wooden vines, "My best bet is through that tunnel."

"Yeah, you do that. I'll just wait right here." Sparx said.

I was not letting Sparx be lazy. So, I grabbed him by his tail section and walked toward the covered tunnel.

"Hey, let me go!" Sparx yelled.

I said nothing, but had an annoyed look on my face.

After breaking down a wooden barrier with a whack of my tail, Sparx and I made our way through the cave, with Sparx reluctantly providing light. There were a few mushroom spiders in the way, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Eventually, we made it to a hole that was blocked off by another wooden barrier.

I looked at Sparx. "Hey, when in doubt, break it right?" Sparx said, "Go nuts."

I took a deep breath, jumped over the hole, and smashed through the hole with a powerful stomp. At the bottom of the hole two spiders were waiting. Before I landed, I drove my feet into one of the spider's heads, and slammed the other into the door with a powerful palm strike. I, then, proceeded to move the statues.

* * *

 _ ***Meanwhile, with Spyro and Ignitus...***_

 **Spyro's POV.**

Ignitus and I just arrived at the door of the outer wall of the Temple. Ignitus was sulking most of the way. Probably blaming himself for not keeping a closer eye on Sparx and Eleanor. To be honest, I didn't notice that Sparx and Eleanor slip past us, or fell behind. This made me worry. Wherever they are, I hope Cynder's army of apes hadn't captured them.

Ignitus walked up to the door and stood in front of it. He sighed when nothing happened and turned back to talk to me.

"Cynder's forces must have knocked the other two statues out of place… Heathens..." He muttered.

"What other two statues?" I asked.

"On the other side of the door are two statues just like these." Ignitus explained, "When all for statues are positioned correctly, the door opens."

Suddenly, we heard a rumbling behind Ignitus. Ignitus turned around just in time for the door to open, revealing Eleanor and Sparx. I sighed in relief.

* * *

 **Eleanor's POV.**

I pushed the statues back into place and the door opened to reveal Ignitus and Spyro on the other side. Knew they'd show up soon enough.

"I was wondering when you guys would catch up with us." Sparx smirked.

"I thought we were ahead of you." Spyro answered.

"Yeah, tell that to Miss. Mystical over here." Sparx muttered, pointing a thumb at me. I gave him a small glare. 'Miss. Mystical'? Really?

"Any trouble?" Ignitus asked me.

I dusted myself off, "A little insect trouble. Nothing I couldn't handle."

Sparx folded his arms, "Little insects, my tail section."

Together, Spyro, Sparx, Ignitus and I walked over to the next door. There were no statues on either side. Ignitus walked up to the door.

"The past is prelude, tomorrow a dim promise. Allow us entrance do not reject us." Ignitus muttered.

Nothing happened. Spyro, Sparx and I looked at him, confusion registering on all of our faces. Was that phrase a password or something to open the door?

"Are you making that up?" Sparx asked.

"It should open for us..." Ignitus explained, "There is a… disturbance. It seems my fears have been realized." Spryo and I braced ourselves, "They've desecrated the interior as well. Guess we'll just have to open it the old-fashioned way. Make your way through the connecting rooms, restoring every statue you can find."

"Hey, you know what, let's don't and say we didn't." Sparx said, "Why don't you do it?"

"You want my help?" Ignitus asked, walking towards an adjacent ledge, "Very well. Hop up."

"Alright… The old man's coming to life." Sparx said.

Spyro and I jumped on to the old dragon's back, who slightly buckled under the weight, and managed to get up to the ledge.

"Careful, you two." Ignitus warned, "Cynder's forces are surely on their way."

"Oh, goodie." Sparx moaned.

The door, that was on the ledge, opened, revealing two large blue crystals in front of us.

"Hey guys, take a gander at this." Sparx called.

Spyro and I followed Sparx and looked at the crystals. As I stared at the glowing gems, a quiet, whispering voice spoke to me in my head.

 _ **'Hit it.'**_

Out of instinct, I whacked the crystal on the left with my claws. Apparently, Spyro had the same instinct, as he struck the crystal on the right with his tail. The strangest thing was after Spyro and I broke the crystals open, a bunch of blue shards fell out and entered our bodies. It was weird, but amazing.

"Ok, what was that all about?" Sparx asked.

"I don't really know." Spyro answered, then explained, "I just felt like I had to hit it. And when I did, the power of a thousand suns serged through my body."

I nodded in agreement, "It felt strange, but incredibly refreshing at the same time."

"Right. Okay." Sparx said, drawing a blank in understanding. "Well, you know what? You need to get more sleep. I need to stop bothering you. You need about eight hours."

Spyro shook his head, "Forget I said anything. Let's go."

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way further down the cave. At the end, a group of the small baboon-hyena hybrids ambushed us. Spyro and I quickly dealt with them, and were able to move the statues in without much resistance after.

After destroying another pair of bue crystals, Spyro and I reached another door. This time, Spyro torched it and the door spun them to the other side, revealing a surprised Ignitus.

"That's quite an entrance, young dragon." He said, "There may be hope for us yet."

Spyro, Ignitus, Sparx and I passed through the now unlocked door, where another set of blue crystals awaited us.

"What are these things?" Spyro asked.

"These are Spirit Gems… A gift from the Ancestors." Ignitus answered.

"What kind of gift?" Spyro asked.

"A gift that speaks across generstions. A gift that empowers you with the spirit of the past, strengthening you with the wisdom of the ages." Ignitus explained.

"I feel more powerful already." Spyro said.

Spyro then proceeded to break the gems. However, while the majority of the shards entered Spyro's body, I tried to keep my distance from the shards, but some of them entered my body as well.

"How did that happen?" Ignitus asked, and I just shrugged. Heck if I know.

We continued walking to the next door, passing a wall with a small hole in the center. However, when we were right next to it, ape noises could be heard. Ignitus stopped.

"Do you hear that?" He asked.

"What is it?" Spyro asked.

"Exactly what I feared." Ignitus answered. He looked at Spyro, "Look, Spyro, perhaps we should turn back."

"What? After coming this far?" Spyro asked.

"If this door is closed, it means that there are intruders behind." Ignitus explained, "It's how the Temple protects itself."

"Ah, yeah, doesn't work too well does it?" Sparx asked.

"What are you saying, Ignitus?" Spyro asked.

"What I'm saying is, the only way the door will open..." Ignitus began.

"Don't say it!" Sparx warned.

"Is if the intruders are kicked out of there." I finished, knowing exactly what to do.

"Didn't I just say not to say it?" Sparx moaned.

I immediately walked over to an unstable pillar, and knocked a set of pillars with a psychokinetic push into a wall. A creature made a quick yelp and ran off. Ignitus didn't seem to notice the minion, but did notice the pillar.

"How in Ancestors name did you do that?" He asked me.

I shrugged again, "I'm not very sure myself." I jumped through the broken wall, Spyro and Sparx right behind me.

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way through the first part of the cave without and difficulty. However, a new member in the apes appeared, this one carrying a staff containing a small blue crystal at the end. Beating him proved to be more difficult, not only because of his flunkies, but he kept sending out energy blasts from the staff, and he was bigger. In the end, I managed to slam it on the roof before it crumpled on the ground.

Spyro, Sparx and I eventually made it through to the other side of the tunnel, where Ignitus was waiting for us. We weren't alone for long though, until a group of apes, accompanied by another staff wielding one, followed close behind. Spyro took a step back in shock, but Ignitus and I stepped in front of him and took an defensive stance.

"Well, Ignitus, we nabbed your Guardian buddies, but you managed to escape our clutches." Then he wielder smirked, "Until now."

"Stand back, children. And let me show you what a dragon trained in the ancient ways can do." Ignitus said.

The group of apes charged at Ignitus, who responded with a fireball, just as Spyro and I backed up to a safe location. The fireball detonated causing the apes to scatter. The leader charged at Ignitus, but he swept him fifteen feet away with a strong palm strike.

I gotta say, Ignitus is very impessive with his moves. He has got to have been studying martial arts, and mixing them with the use of fire, as well as other elemental abilities.

One of the apes tried to sneak up behind him, but Ignitus whipped him with his tail, cause him to fly into one of his friends. The leader shook of the hit and went back on the offensive, only to be knocked back by a right hook from Ignitus.

"Whoa, the big guy's got some moves!" Sparx commented.

Unfortunately, I noticed Ignitus was starting to tire out. After knocking the leader into two of its friends, he was slowly being backed into a corner.

"You've grown weak, old man." The leader growled, "You shouldn't have come back."

"You can't defeat me." Ignitus gasped, "You clearly lack discipline."

My heart burned, I couldn't just stand there and do nothing. I jumped in front of Ignitus and got into an offensive martial arts stance.

"We're going to enjoy this." The leader smirked, and with that the group charged straight at me.

I responded by sending a psychokinetic blast at the group, knocking all of them back toward the leader, unconscious. The leader roared and swung wildly at me with the staff. I dodged the ape's swings with ease. When the ape tried to charge at me, I withdrew my staff and performed a **抱圍の構え** (Hoko no Kamae/Embrace Posture).

As soon as he got close enough, I rolled over his back and performed a spinning leg-sweep, knocking the ape into the air. I finished him with another psychokinetic blast, which blew the ape into the nearest wall with enough force to knock him out. Ignitus just stood there, unable to believe that something, like me, easily did something that he had struggled to do.

"Uh, remind me never to get on your bad side." He muttered.

"Are you okay?" I asked, worried about the elder dragon.

"Yes. As I get older, it takes longer to recover." Ignitus answered and reassured my worry for him.

"You were incredible, Ignitus." Spyro said running up to him, "Can you teach me how to do that?"

"Patience, young dragon." Ignitus said, "In time, you'll learn all I have to teach. But right now, you must fight."

The door opened and Spyro and I went ahead. Another group of enemies were on the other side, but Spyro and I were able to dispatch them easily defeated.

"If Cynder's forces were here, there will certainly be more of them in the Temple." Ignitus said.

"Oh, goody." Sparx moaned.

"They won't be there for long." Spyro said and he and I went further in.

"Wonderful… Now they're getting cocky." Sparx said.

The next door opened to reveal it lead to a room that had a pool of some sort of water in it. Sparx flew over it and started checking out his image. However he was whipped away by Ignitus' tail when he walked past. I looked around the area and a vision of the past played before me.

The room was overrun by Cynder's forces, destroying dragon eggs and defeating the other elders. A big ape, with a gem in his right eye, took an untouched black dragon egg and took it away. Ignitus tried to stop the ape, but he failed.

"Eleanor, you've gotta take a looked at this." I heard Spyro's voice, breaking me out of my trance.

I looked at Spyro and he motioned to the pool. I looked at my reflection, in the pool, and saw what looked like a young, graceful, yet cute asian dragon with pastel green scales with an azure underbelly. Two horns on each side of its head. A white mane that glistens like stardust. Its wings were graceful as well.

It was like a creature you see in your dreams. But, I have pastel green scales and an azure underbelly too. That's impossible! I stepped back in slight fright, but I quickly regained my composure.

"Ah, home sweet home." I heard Ignitus sigh.

Ignitus, Spyro and I had now entered a room which had a giant statue of a dragon, wearing a knight's armor, in the centered. I couldn't help stare at the statue. There was something... mysterious and shadow-like about it. Just as Ignitus suspected, more apes were waiting for them.

"You want this one, or should I take it?" Spyro asked me.

I stepped aside and bowed with a smile, "After you, Spyro."

Spyro proceeded to finish of the last of Cynder's forces. They were just like the others we've fought, so the fight was relatively short. Ignitus then led Spyro, Sparx and I to a balcony which overlooked the land surrounding the Temple.

"Spyro, we're not in Kansas anymore." Sparx smirked, as he looked over the horizon.

The terrain around the Temple looked absolutely bleak. The whole sight of it looked horrifying and heartbreaking. I had to covered my mouth in horror.

"What happened here?" Spyro asked, when he looked.

"This is what Cynder has done." Ignitus answered in a sad tone, "Put all the islands under her iron rule."

"I wanted to see where I came from… but I didn't know it was going to be like this." Spyro sighed.

"Yeah, no offense but this place is a bit of a dump." Sparx said.

"This was once our home, Spyro." Ignitus told the young dragon, "Together we can make it our home once again… Reclaim what's rightfully ours."

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked.

"I mean that my time for heroics has passed." Ignitus explained, "But with your help, we might be able to beat Cynder."

"I… I can't, Ignitus." Spyro said, shaking his head, "I just learned what I am."

"You can, Spyro, you can." Ignitus assured him, "You are a Purple Dragon… A very special creature. You've given me hope again. Now it's time give hope to all of them."

I looked at the horizon and I began to wonder about what makes me tied in all of this.

I think Ignitus noticed, because he asked, "Is something worrying you?"

I looked at him and lightly sighed, "Well, I saw something in the pool, in the other room and..." I took hold of his hand, "I think I'm better off showing you."

I lead Ignitus back to the pool room and showed him my reflection in the pool. Ignitus looked and took a step back with shock evident on his face.

I tilted my head, "Do you know something about this?"

"I… I'm sorry, I have to do some research." Ignitus said, making his way to another room.

I gave a quick look at Spyro, who only shrugged. I hope it's not anything bad or dangerous.


	6. First Training

Ignitus' Training and Dante's Freezer.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx, and I had been waiting for the past two hours for Ignitus to return. He had become so obsessed with my reflection within the small pool that he locked himself in the room that had the pool in it. Spyro had become worried and started pacing for the past ten minutes, because he didn't like seeing his new mentor stressed out. To be honest, neither do I.

Finally, the door opened and Ignitus came out, holding something in his hand. Spyro stood still in slight startle, then relaxed himself.

I tilted my head in interest, "Found out anything?"

"Well, this is what I know." Ignitus answered, then told a story, "When the Temple and the Dragon City of Warfang were first created, the Ape armies, that now serve Cynder, had begun to grow jealous of us. The Dark Master taught the Apes a certain skill, and they used it to defeat us and take over the Temple. However, when all seemed lost, a mystical dragon, born in the realm of spirits, led a small group of warriors to the source himself. Alone, the Astral Dragon was able to defeat the Dark Master and restored peace to the Realms. But once its task was complete, the Astral Dragon returned to its home, in the Spirit Realm."

I nodded in understanding, but I was still unsure what it had to do with me. So I tilted my head again, "What's that got to do with me?"

"I believe that, like Spyro, you are the Astral Dragon, a being born from the Spirit Realm." Ignitus explained, "It would appear you have control over some of its elemental abilities, but you will have to learn all of them in order to defeat Cynder".

I stood there in absolute shock. Like Spyro, I, too, am a special type of dragon? I couldn't speak. I couldn't believe it myself. I'm Half-Dragon? My mother did use to say I had stars in my eyes, but I thought that was a joke. I can't be that special!

"Indeed." Ignitus spoke up with an understand nod for my silence. Then placed his hand over mine, "Take this and put around your neck."

He removed his hand. I looked at my hand and found that he gave me a black, velvet choker with a pendant of a glowing light blue crystal. I looked at Ignitus in slight confusion. I loved crystals since I was very young, but I didn't understand why.

"This is a very special Spirit Gem." Ignitus explained, "It was the same gem your predecessor wore before it returned to its home realm. Each of the Guardians shares a certain knowledge of an element that the Astral Dragon knew. This gem will allow you to recieve that knowledge. Given the gravity of the situation, it is imperative that you help rescue the other Guardians and master these techniques immediately."

I nodded in understanding the importance of the pendant, learning all I can of being the Astral Dragon and defeating Cynder. I put the choker around my neck and the crystal rested above my collor-bones. The gem glowed brightly and enveloped me in a bright light. The light vanished after a few seconds.

"Good." Ignitus said with a small smile, "However, the hour is late. Let us rest for now. I have something to show the both of you tomorrow. The both of you can sleep with me if you want."

"Thanks, Ignitus." Spyro smiled.

* * *

 _ ***The next day…***_

The next morning, Ignitus was leading us back to the room that had the statue of the Founder in it. Spyro and Sparx slept well last night, given that Ignitus' body gave off a lot of warmth. I, however, didn't. I kept getting nightmares of an evil, shadowy figure and something bad happening to Spyro, Sparx and Ignitus. The breakfast was kind of new for Spyro and my own tastes, but we managed.

"The styles you used yesterday were crude, archaic, and obvious. But you got the job done." Ignitus said, as we walked to the room with the statue, "Not bad, considering you haven't been taught what it means to be a dragon, Spyro."

"Thanks… I think..." Spyro said, muttering the last part in confusion.

"But if you're going to have a chance against Cynder and her army, you're going to need to learn a lot more." Ignitus went on.

"Oh good… school." Sparx moaned.

"Unlike any school you've ever known, young friend." Ignitus said, giving Sparx a dirty look before turning back to Spyro and I, "Now, it's time to unleash the true dragon within you both."

The statue of the Founder began to sink into the ground. It appeared the place doubled as a dojo.

"Each of the Guardians is a master of an element." Ignitus explained, "I, as you might have surmised, am master of fire. Pay attention and you may be some day too. Let's begin."

He first started testing Spyro and I on physical strikes. He had decided to see how well our abilities were separately. He started with Spyro was with his flame abilities. Spyro was able to perform the techniques with excellent precision. When he was satisfied that he was able to shoot fireballs and manipulate the flames effectively, Ignitus told Spyro to stand in the center of the dojo.

"Thus far, you have demonstrated the ability to control and manipulate fire, Spyro." Ignitus smiled, "It is clear that you have a strong kinship with the flame."

Spyro smiled. It was nice knowing that his relationship with Ignitus was strong.

"But now it is time for you to unleash it's fury." Ignitus continued, "Feel the fire consume and flow through you. And when the time is right, release it."

Spyro defeated a group of small dummies. The more he defeated, a fiery orange glow started to become noticable between his scales. A group of larger dummies appeared and attacked Spyro, as the glow was bright enough to look like he was literally on fire. Spyro floated into the air and a giant wave of flames shot out from him, enveloping the dummies.

"Excellent, Spyro." Ignitus laughed, as the dummies were engulfed into the flames and disappeared, "It would seem you might be even better than me at my own element."

Then, it was my turn. Ignitus proceeded to test me and my own psychic abilities by putting me through the same exercises. He was surprised to see that despite my lack of size, my attacks were fluid and dynamic. He was even mildly impressed when he saw me missile dropkick dummies into each other. I had even mastered the ability that he had knowledge of: Being able to create psychokinetic force-fields at will. After that, it was a simple matter of unlocking my fury ability; Psychokinetic Pulse, which I did rather impressively.

"You might have a chance against Cynder yet." Ignitus smiled as the Founder's statue rose back into place.

He then led us back to the room that had the pool in it. Sparx made an attempt to jump right in, but a look from Ignitus told him otherwise.

"So what's with the pool, big guy?" Sparx asked.

"If you must know, certain dragons have the ability to see visions. The thoughts, memories and dreams of others, and to see event's in places far, far away." Ignitus explained, "I am one such dragon. And in this pool, the visions come forth."

"Oh really, is that so?" Sparx asked. "Ok, what am I thinking now?"

Ignitus just rolled his eyes at him. Sparx didn't notice.

"What am I thinking now?" He asked again. "Okay, now? Now? Now, Now, now, now, now?"

"Sparx..." I warned, finally able to find my voice.

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Sparx." Ignitus explained, "It takes time, reflection, patience. What I do see in the Pool of Visions is that Volteer, one of the Guardians, is being held at Dante's Freezer."

Ignitus looked at Spyro and I, "Spyro, Eleanor, while I look for details on the others, I want you two to venture there and learn what you can. Remember, just look around. If you encounter Cynder… Run. You are not ready to face her yet."

"Ok, so when people are trying to kill me, I run?" Sparx said, "Got it."

"But Ignitus, how do we get there?" Spyro asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Ignitus said, smiling at us.

"Why is he smiling?" Sparx asked. "I don't like that!"

* * *

 _ ***Moments later...***_

"Let me get this straight. You're saying that we… can fly?" Spyro asked.

Ignitus nodded and winked.

"Maybe you've been hanging in those caves too long, Old Man." Sparx said, "Spyro can't fly. We all know that."

"Yeah, a little fresh air might do you good." Spyro chuckled, "I've never flown in my life."

I chuckled myself, "I agree with Spyro, Ignitus. In case you haven't noticed, I don't have wings."

"It's you two that will be getting some fresh air." Ignitus said, "Now… close your eyes, take a deep breath, and empty your minds."

Spyro and I looked at each other, shrugged, and closed our eyes. Ignitus decided that we should practice this on the balcony. So, we went to the balcony and closed ours eyes again.

"Yes, yes, that's it." Ignitus said, "Now feel the power of the Ancestors coursing through your bodies. In times of crisis, they will come to you and teach you… Unlocking powers you never knew you had."

"This I gotta see." Sparx muttered.

"Just forget everything you thought you knew… Forget yourself." Ignitus continued to instruct us, "Only through forgetting will you remember what your ancient blood already knows… You can fly."

Spyro's wings began flapping, and he was able to lift himself a few feet from the ground. Spyro opened his eyes and looked down. His immediate reaction was shock and surprise. He was able to prove Sparx and himself wrong. He was flying.

I, however, wasn't having any luck. I couldn't lift myself one foot off the ground. I've been trying to follow Ignitus' instructions for over four hours, but something always preventing me from achieving flight. Like I said, I don't have wings. How can a dragon fly without the aid of wings?

"Come on, Eleanor. Concentrate." Ignitus urged, trying to get me to focus.

I opened my eyes and found nothing happening. I threw my arms with a long sigh, "It's hopeless, Ignitus. We've been at this for hours. I'm not capable of this."

"Oh, very well." Ignitus sighed, "It's obvious that despite all the talents you're acquiring, it would seem flight is not one of them."

I shrugged in agreement and made my way to the room with the Pool of Visions. I looked at my reflection and saw the dream-like dragon. In anger and frustration, I hit the water with a hard punch, which caused it to splash in my face. I walked toward the wall with the green emblem and sat against it.

What's the point of being here? Astral Dragon, my eye! I'm just a mutant freak. Left here via a school field trip and I'm even a misfit here. What's the point? Why am I really here? I should've stayed home, where I belonged! I closed my eyes and tried to calm my angry and frustrated thoughts. I didn't notice the pendant around my neck glowing.

* * *

 **Spyro's POV.**

I watched Eleanor walk into the room with the Pool of Visions. The door closed behind her. She looked very upset on not being able to fly.

"It's okay, Ignitus." I assured Ignitus, landing back on the ground, "I'll look for Volteer myself."

"No." Ignitus sighed, "I was hoping to have you and Eleanor go as a pair to avoid any problems. Since that's not going to happen, I can't risk your safety going-".

"Whoa!" A familliar, female voice called out, followed immediately by a rather nasty thud, causing Ignitus, Sparx and myself to turn around.

Eleanor was inside the dojo, face-down on the ground, "Ow..."

"Are you alright?" Ignitus asked.

Eleanor picked herself up and dusted herself off. She nodded with a shy smile, "Yeah. I'm fine. Just had a rough fall is all." Her forehead had a small bruise from when she landed. The girl's tough.

"What happened?" I asked Eleanor, checking the bruise on her forehead.

Eleanor gently pushed away my hand, "I said I'm fine, Spyro. I was trying to calm myself down, until after a few seconds, I found myself floating 5 feet off the ground. I lost control and fell into the Dojo."

"Interesting." Ignitus muttered, then said out loud, "It appears you can access flight a different way than we can."

Eleanor raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"

"Try calming yourself again, Eleanor." Ignitus suggested.

Eleanor closed her eyes and began to think. Within a few minutes, the gem around her neck gave out a soft glow that enveloped her body. The glow lifted Eleanor 4 feet into the air. Eleanor opened her eyes, looked down and smiled. She was flying!

* * *

 _ ***Three hours later…***_

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro and I were flying through a series of clouds. It had taken about an hour for me to fly properly without getting out of control, but I managed it in the end. I still can't believe what happened. I'm actually flying! I'm not sure if I should be scared or excited. Either way, it feels great.

"Are you kidding? They're flying!" Sparx yelled from next to us. "Welcome to the club, big guys!"

"Would that be the annoying pest club?" Spyro asked with.

"No, smart aleck, the flying club." Sparx shot back.

I smiled and giggled, "Yeah. I can get used to this."

We continued to fly for a while without anything else happening. Finally, the clouds leveled out to reveal a small chain of islands. Spyro, Sparx and I even saw a giant turtle creature raising and falling through the waves.

Suddenly, fireballs were being launched straight in our path, forcing us to get out of the way. Apparently the Ape armies here had found out the Temple and had some special cannons set up to deter any… uninvited guests. Spyro and I had to keep dodging and blasting the cannons as we passed. Eventually, the islands gave way to a large ice-covered mass which could only mean it was Dante's Freezer.

* * *

 **Dante's Freezer is a desolate arctic expanse that's littered with the machinery of war… soldiers and weapons frozen forever in the posture of destruction.**

 **You must find Volteer before he's lost forever.**

* * *

Spyro and I had just begun our descent when a thought entered Spyro's mind.

"How, the heck, do we land?" He shouted as his landing speed increased, "Coming in too fast!"

I started to panic as my landing speed increased as well.

"This… doesn't look good." Sparx moaned.

"Incoming!" Spyro and I yelled as he and I slammed into the ice.

The landing causing me to hit my head quite hard, causing it to create a bruise, "Ow..."

"Nice flying, guys." Sparx snickered.

"Yeah, maybe this flying thing ain't for me." Spyro muttered, as he stood up and steadied himself on the ice. I slipped and fell on my tail. But, I stood up and dusted myself off.

"Well it sure doesn't help that the both of you are carrying all that weight." Sparx smirked, earing a glare from Spyro and I, "Throw a salad in every once in a while. You guys might be ok."

"Yeah, I think we should stick to the ground for a while." Spyro suggested. I nodded in agreement.

"Good idea." Sparx agreed.

"Not exactly a friendly place, huh?" Spyro asked, looking around the area. "Wonder where we should start."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'd say maybe that clearly marked path that leads to the interior." Sparx suggested, pointing at the only trail that was in front of us.

Spyro and I followed Sparx upon the clear path that he suggested, unaware of the dangers that lay before our eyes.


	7. Dante's Freezer

Dante's Freezer: New Elements and Rescuing Volteer.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx, and I had been walking down the frozen trail for ten minutes. We've seen no signs of life, which made things more complicated. The cold didn't help the problem because, I was freezing my tail off. Literally. We passed a lot of ice statues along the way, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary until one of them blinked at Sparx. I started sensing auras around the statues.

"Is it weird that that blinked at me?" Sparx asked.

"Just keep moving." Spyro muttered.

Suddenly, two soldiers burst out of where the statues were standing, causing Spyro and I to jump in fright. Apparently some of the statues weren't statues at all, but frozen, undead soldiers that have been awoken by our presence.

"Ice cubes alive!" Sparx yelled.

Spyro and I each took down a soldier, then proceeded down the trail. However, a metal barrier was in the way, and it looked impossible for either Spyro or myself to knock it down.

"Hey guys, why don't we use this thing to knock that bad boy down?" Sparx suggested, floating over a catapult.

Spyro chuckled, "I knew I brought you along for a reason."

Sparx gave Spyro a look, then looked at me. I just shrugged my shoulders.

Unfortunately, the Apes and soliders weren't about to let us get through so easily. While Spyro contended with them, I catapulted three giant snowballs into the air, knocking down the metal barrier.

"That was a good idea." I smiled, "Glad you thought of it, Spyro."

Spyro lightly chuckled.

"You? Thou-… You? No!" Sparx sputtered.

Sparx, Spyro and I then proceeded deeper into the frozen land, taking down Apes that got in our way. After getting through a small hallway, a staff wielder blocked the path with a magic ice barrier, so I set up another catapult to take him out.

After taking out a small wave of grunts, Spyro, Sparx and I encountered a new enemy: this one riding on some sort of giant bat-like creature. A Dreadwing.

However, instead of attacking us, they dropped more grunts on the path. This wave took us a little longer to beat them, but we managed in the end. The barrier fell, and instead of attacking us, the staff wielder retreated deeper into the frozen wasteland.

After climbing up a small hill, Spyro and I faced a new problem: a mounted ice cannon. Spyro and I quickly took it out with some fire balls and psychokinetic orbs, and we continued down the trail without any more distraction for a couple minutes. However, the sound of heavy wings flapping was heard and we stopped dead.

"You think that was Cynder?" Sparx asked.

"I sure hope so." Spyro said. I nodded in agreement.

"What?!" Sparx gasped.

"Well, if it wasn't, that means there's more than one giant, evil dragon around here." I explained.

"Oh, yeah." Sparx said, "I hope that was Cynder too."

Unfortunately, and further question into the matter was cut off by a rather loud sneeze from me. Turning around, Spyro and Sparx saw that I was shivering so much that I was making the snow vibrate. I might have grew up around the Rocky Mountains, but that doesn't keep me warm at freezing temperatures.

I'll explain later.

While I was shivering, my underbelly and vine marks started glowing in a spiritual blue.

Suddenly, the sound of another magical barrier popping up snapped them back into reality. Another new enemy decided to make its presence known, except this one was a larger skeletal solider, and was covered in so much armor that it was impossible to tell if it had any weaknesses.

Fortunately, once Spyro hit it with enough fire, we found out that it was just a floating torso of a skeleton, which proved easy to beat with a quick psychokinetic blast from me. After that it was a simple matter of taking out the grunts and catapulting a snowball at the staff wielder.

Suddenly, an electric jolt came out of nowhere and hit Spyro right in the muzzle. Slightly dazed, he got up in time to see three more of those skeletal armor things heading toward them.

"Spyro, you okay there buddy?" Sparx asked.

At that moment, Spyro sneezed, and instead of fire coming out, a strong current of electricity came forth, shocking the armor off all three of them.

"Woo! I guess so." Sparx shrugged.

Then, I suddenly let out another loud sneeze, accompanied by a strange, spiritual white and azure blast of fire, finishing of what was left of the creatures, by burning them, but not burning them on the outside. My underbelly and vine marks returned to their normal colors.

"I need new friends." Sparx muttered.

Another catapult was right next to us, and three snowballs were all it took to knock down the next wall. When Spyro, Sparx and I reached the next area, it seemed like it was just an endless wave of enemies, but we finished them off in the end.

However, we soon realized that the deeper they went into the Freezer, the more Ape soldiers and undead soliders we had to deal with. It seemed that Cynder had spared no expense to keep her prey under her control. Every time Spyro and I felt like we were making progress, more grunts would show up and slow us down.

After taking down another wave of Apes outside a barracks of some sort, our path was blocked by grunts riding their weird ox-like creatures. After taking care of them and some more of those armored skeletons, Spyro and I proceeded through another door.

However, the staff wielder that kept retreating surrounded us with a magical ice barrier, and were forced to take him out before moving on.

After fighting off a small wave of apes in a hallway and a small courtyard, we travelled through a dining court of sorts with minimal resistance. The walls around there had been frozen over, which didn't help my cold problems because it was colder there.

My body shivered to the point that I was moving like a vibrating cell-phone on a table. My voice shivered as well, "This p-p-place is not h-h-helping much with m-m-my physiology, Sp-S-Spyro. We need t-t-to find V-V-Volteer quickly."

"Don't worry, Eleanor. We'll get there soon." Spyro said.

Unfortunately, a crumbled bridge did not help his mood, nor did the small wave or Ape grunts that awaited us on the other side. To make matters worse, some of the bat creatures that had been dropping grunts had decided to go on the offensive, so I had to use my spiritual flame trick to get rid of them while Spyro took out the small fry.

Eventually, Spyro and I came to a door we assumed lead to where they were keeping Volteer. Spyro tried ramming it down, the door was either frozen on the other side or too sturdy to break.

"Maybe we should head this way, genius." Sparx said, pointing to a small tunnel that seemed to bypass the door.

Spyro, Sparx and I walked over to the opening and went in.

"Oh, check this out." Sparx whispered. "Echo!"

Sparx's voice echoed through the cave. Spyro and I smiled in excitement. Echoes were fun.

"Ha, ha. All right my turn... Hellooooooo." Spyro yelled.

Unfortunately, the cave leveled out to a chamber, in which a group of Apes were waiting.

"Hello." One of them said rather smugly.

"Who's the genius now, echo man?" Spyro muttered as he and I jumped down to take them out.

After making our way down a hallway, Spyro and I made our way to, what looked like, a gladiator arena. Volteer was on the other side, his mouth tied shut for some reason.

Volteer was a shocking yellow with bright, lightning shaped markings covering his body. His three horns were curved forward at the top, which looked like the tail of a scorpion ready to strike. Grey frills extended past his underbelly, covering his shoulders. His tail ended in a split spade, and his wings were a grey with a murky yellow membrane.

Like Ignitus, Volteer wore an elder monk uniform. But it was lightly burnt around the trimmings. Maybe due to his electrical powers.

Another dragon I've seen before. First Ignitus, now Volteer. What's next? The next guardian is blue and related to ice?

"Hey, that's him. We did it. Bye." Sparx said.

"I don't like this." Spyro said. "It's too quiet… too easy."

"I agree." I spoke up, looking around the area.

The silence of the arena was unsettling. And it screams with a battle-like aura. Obviously, something's meant to be here. But, what?

"Wha… ah, what part was easy?" Sparx asked, flying backwards. "Eh, getting chased by frozen mad men and gorillas?"

"Uh, Sparx..." Spyro shouted, as the sound of ice breaking was heard behind Sparx.

"Is that what I think it is?" He asked before turning around.

What Sparx had assumed was a statue was actually an ice behemoth, named the Ice King. It broke free of the ice holding him in place and stared down at Sparx. I hate it when I do that!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Sparx screamed, flying back to the safety of the others.

The Ice King jumped from the throne and into the arena. Spyro glared at the behemoth, and Sparx backed away behind his brother. I smiled and got into a fighting position. Finally a challange.

The Ice King started off with a simple shield and sword combo to attack us. Spyro quickly melted the shield with a fire bomb, giving an opening for me to blast it with an psychokinetic waves. This only seemed to make the Ice King angry, however, as he caused some frozen stalactites to fall from the ceiling.

Spyro quickly hid behind a pillar. Out of instinct, I grabbed several that were falling toward us with a psychokinetic wave and sent them at the King, shattering the sword and creating several holes in his armor.

He then created a staff with a curved blade at the end. He also created a barrier around himself. Spyro and I had to time our blasts accurately to break through the shield. Eventually we knocked it over from our attacks, taking out a huge chunk of the armor.

The Ice King pulled himself up and pulled a sword out of a stalagmite and started blowing a cold wind at us. Deciding there was only one good way to take it down; Spyro and I outmaneuvered it and launched our Furies at the same time.

The Ice King fell forward, this time not getting up. Now all that was left was to wait for Volteer to come too.


	8. Volteer's Training

Volteer's Training: The Sparks of Life.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

"It borders on the miraculous, incredible, stupendous…" Volteer went on.

Spyro, Sparx and I finally figured out why the Apes had gagged Volteer in the first place: the dragon can't seem to stop talking. Ever since he woke up, Volteer had been talking nonstop. Every time someone mentioned a topic, he would go into so much detail that it was... quite funny and cute. My step-sister used to talk quite alot. So, I'm used to Volteer's rambling.

"A dragon and a half-dragon your sizes defeating that… That… Thing." Volteer continued. "Thank you…ah…ah…ah..."

At this point, Volteer couldn't go any further. Sparx let out a sigh of relief.

"Spyro." Spyro introduced.

"Eleanor, sir." I introduced

"A Purple Dragon named Spyro and a Half-Dragon named Eleanor... Amazing." Volteer started up again, causing Sparx's teeth to grind in the unwanted drawl of his voice, "Of course, there were unsubstantiated rumors of a Purple Dragon countless generations ago. But most considered it hearsay, gossip, legend. It hard to believe, difficult to fathom, amazing to comprehend... er... um..."

"No wonder they gagged this guy." Sparx muttered over to me, who gave him a glare.

"So much time has passed, so many things have been learned." Volteer went on, "And now here he is, standing right before me..."

"Excuse me, Mr. Volt?" Sparx called.

"Wha... wha... What is it?" Volteer said, tripping over the words that were about to come out about Spyro.

"Sir, shouldn't... Shouldn't we get going?" Sparx asked.

"Of course." Volteer said, "But where to?"

"Well, back to the Temple." Spyro said.

"A friend of yours is waiting." Sparx added.

"Ignitus?" Volteer asked.

"Yes, Ignitus." Sparx said, instantly regretting having said anything.

"Oh yes, much to tell him, many hypotheses to propose." Volteer said, "I believe that..."

Fortunately, Volteer was cut short by another sneeze from myself, this one accompanied by a shot of a white and blue flames from my mouth. Volteer had barely enough time to duck as it flew past him a burned a hole in the wall.

I sniffled a little, "Sorry about that. I think it would be best if we go now, before this cold gets the better of me."

"Yeah, you're right, Eleanor." Spyro said, "You do look a little paler than usual."

I nodded, but suddenly, I felt weak and the darkness got the better of me.

* * *

 **Spyro's POV.**

Eleanor nodded in agreement, then began to topple over. She was fainting from the cold of the cave. I quickly caught her, before she hit the ground, and put her arm over my shoulders. She was lucky she's alot lighter than she looks.

"I think it might be safer if I carried her, Spyro." Volteer said.

* * *

 _ ***Several hours later…***_

"Yes, yes, Volteer, it's good to see you as well, but we don't have time to waste on sentiment." Ignitus said rather hurriedly.

He, Volteer, Sparx, and I were all standing near the Pool of Visions. Eleanor was the only one not in the room, as she was still recovering. The potion, that Ignitus had made for her, got rid of the cold and the numbness she was feeling, but unfortunately it also made her rather drowsy and ill, so she had to go to the dojo, just to deal with the drowsy-ness, by napping.

"Back to Cynder… she was doing what to you?" Ignitus asked.

"Wait, Cynder's a chick?" Sparx asked.

I frowned at Sparx. Ignitus said 'she' and 'her' over fifty times before.

"It's hard to be absolutely sure Ignitus." Volteer answered, "But I believe she was using me as some sort of suspended, organic power source."

"Huh?" Sparx asked, unable to follow what Volteer had said.

"She was using him as a battery." A familiar voice answered. We all looked and Eleanor entered through the door.

I looked and smiled at Eleanor. She looked a whole lot better now, than back at Dante's Freezer. Note to self; Eleanor is highly suseptible to cold tempuratures.

"Not only that, but she took off with a glowing yellow orb." Volteer went on, "And I believe that I somehow powered it. Does this mean anything to you, Ignitus?"

"Perhaps... Perhaps." Ignitus said shaking his head, "What I do know is that we need to rescue the other Guardians... before Cynder can power anymore of those orbs."

When Ignitus was talking, Eleanor looked deep into thought. She's been doing that quite a lot lately. Does she have a hunch, or is she trying to think about something?

"I agree, Ignitus." Volteer said, pulling out a kusarigama from his belt, "But first I'd like to impart some useful information to Spyro and Eleanor. Vis-à-vis Spyro's recently acquired electricity-based exhalation device, Eleanor's spiritual ignition-base manipulation."

"What?" Sparx said again.

"He said he'd like to teach us some things about that Electricity Breath, Eleanor's Spiritual Flame abilities." I translated.

"Oi, why doesn't he just say so?" Sparx muttered.

Volteer led Eleanor and I back to the statue, which had sunk back into the ground in a matter of seconds.

"Electricity and Spirit are the sparks of life." Volteer was telling Eleanor and I, "Listen and I will teach you their secrets."

Volteer first taught me how to harness and control my new electric powers, which I was able to do rather quickly. After showing me how to unleash the Electric Fury, Volteer began to teach Eleanor how to use her Spiritual Fire abilities more effectively.

Like Ignitus, Volteer was amazed by how quickly Eleanor grasped the concept. She must be very intelligent behind those kind eyes.

"You're training is complete... for now." Volteer said.

* * *

 **Eleanor's POV**

We made our way back to the Pool of Visions, where Ignitus was waiting.

"Spyro... Eleanor... Cyril, the Ice Guardian, was taken to Tall Plains." Ignitus informed us, "You need to go there at once… and find him."

"Yes, sir." Spyro and I answered with a nod.

"But if we see danger, we run, right?" Sparx said, trying to get out of this one.

"There are times when all of us need to stand up to danger, young Sparx." Ignitus said.

"Yeah, maybe next month, next summer, perhaps next year...?" Sparx said.

"Just go... Now." Ignitus said, slightly raising his voice.

"Yes, sir." Spyro said before he, myself, and a hesitant Sparx took off to get ready.

* * *

 _ ***Several hours later…***_

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way to a floating chain of islands situated northeast of the Temple. We found it hard to believe that Cynder would take anyone to an out-of-the-way place like this. Spyro, Sparx and I recalled what Ignitus told us about the place.

* * *

 _ **"Tall Plains was once home to a proud ancient tribe called the Atlawa." Ignitus told us.**_

 _ **"Bless you." Sparx snickered.**_

 _ **"Sparx..." Spyro and I warned.**_

 _ **"The Atlawa were a people in tune with the rhythms of the seasons, focused on their relationship with crops, their surroundings, their gods." He continued, "They've all been driven underground by Cynder and her forces, who've taken over the tribe's Shrine."**_

 _ **"I sense that's where Cynder is keeping Cyril, trying to power another crystal. You must find him, before she succeeds." Ignitus finished.**_

* * *

"Right, it's never easy." Sparx moaned.

"Nothing worthwhile ever is." Spyro said.

"So now you're spouting wisdom, hero boy?" Sparx snapped.

Spyro supressed a chuckle, "C'mon."


	9. Kane's Pain

Tall Plains: Kane's Pain.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx and I had been jumping across floating platforms for the past ten minutes without any sort of interference at all. We assumed the bulk of Cynder's forces were in the interior of the plains, so we had to move with caution once they got to the mainland.

After travelling through a small tunnel, we met the first wake of resistance. Spyro and I were able to take care of the small fry, but the leader kept ducking back into the interior of a ledge he was standing on before we could get to him. Evidently this guy knew about my psychokinetic abilities and was trying to keep me from taking control.

However, the leader hadn't counted on us finding the trigger that raised one of the totem poles that sunk into the ground. Once it rose, Spyro and I began looking for the other triggers.

However we ran into a new problem: The walls along a pathway were booby-trapped to shoot spikes. Spyro, Sparx and I carefully timed the spikes, got past them, and took out a group of Apes waiting for us.

Eventually, we made our way to a small ledge looking outside. There, Spyro, Sparx and I saw what appeared to be two bipedal llamas caged up by a group of Apes. We, then, saw one of them be carried off by one of those bat creatures, which Ignitus had said were called Dreadwings.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Spyro said.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Sparx asked.

"Yeah, we got to help them." I answered.

"Oh brother..." Sparx moaned.

Spyro and I quickly took out the small wave of Apes. However, the Atlawa seemed less than pleased when Spyro knocked an Ape into the cage, breaking it open.

"Watch it, would ya!" It yelled in a gruff voice.

"We were just trying to help." Spyro said.

"Well, the Atlawa and Kane need no help!" the Atlawa, Kane, shot back.

"Oh, just about to spring into action, huh?" Spyro retorted with a raised eyebrow. I folded my arms at the stubborn llama.

"Forget about this guy, Spyro. C'mon." Sparx told Spyro, earning a glare from Kane and myself.

"What did they want with you anyway?" I asked.

"It's none of your business." Kane snapped. "Now move... I've got a tribe to save."

And with that, Kane stormed off.

"Oh, you're welcome!" Sparx called out.

Spyro, Sparx and I didn't have a lot of time to think about what Kane would do, as a Dreadwing landed and started attacking us. I took it down with a spirit-flame wave, and we continued down the trail.

We were surprised to see that the last trigger was right behind the leader from before. Spyro took him out with an electric jolt while I pressed the trigger.

We had to take out another wave of Apes after getting across the top of a see-saw like log before coming to a pair of the same trigger as before. However, it was swarmed with a group of leaders.

After quickly dispatching the annoying monkeys, Spyro, Sparx and I proceeded to press the triggers and navigate the see-saw like bridge to the next ledge.

The next pathway was tricky to cross because there were sections of the path that had been booby-trapped with spike pits. We had to quickly jump over them while taking out Ape soldiers along the way.

Eventually, it ended at a string of more floating islands connected by foot bridges. The few grunts and Dreadwings that were scattered put up little resistance as we went from island to island to reach another entrance to the main landmass.

Entering another doorway, Spyro, Sparx and I ended up in what appeared to be a mini arena. At that point, a Staff wielder blocked the exits and sent several waves of Ape grunts at them. It took us ten whole minutes just to take them all out.

After crossing a group of close-range floating islands, Spyro, Sparx and I came to a rather large wheat field. I looked around and noticed three waterwheels on each level. Along with three stone switches, an earth cannon, and what look likes a wind chime.

"I think we're going to have to use the waterwheels to move ahead." I summarized.

"Oh… it's never easy..." Sparx moaned.

And, for the first time since I came to the Dragon Realms, Sparx turned out to be right. Every time Spyro and I hit one of the triggers to activate a waterwheel, it was either some stone-like armadillo creatures or a group of apes that would attack us seconds after.

It must've been the wind chimes. It took us the good part of an hour before the door opened and we could get through.

After taking down a group of stone statues in our way, Spyro, Sparx and I stepped outside to receive a bit of a shock: Kane, the Atlawa who never thanked us for his rescue, was being backed up to the edge of a waterfall by three more statues.

"Kane!" Spyro and I yelled.

Kane turned, and that split second hesitation caused him to slip of the edge, slam hard on the bottom, and drift to another ledge, which had to lead to, at least, a 15 foot drop.

"Yeah, I now the guys an ingrate. But you gotta do something. And fast." Sparx told Spyro and me hurriedly.

Quickly, Spyro opened his mouth, and a stream of ice flew toward the river. The ice froze enough of the river to stop Kane from falling off the cliff. Meanwhile, I shot my hands right at the statues, with my underbelly glowing a violet and my vine marks glowing black.

Instead of psychokinetic energy, or spiritual flames, a stream of black and indigo energy shot out of my hands at hit the statues. The statues froze, lifted into the air and were thrown over the cliff.

"Guys, you are getting weirder and weirder by the second." Sparx commented. Spyro and I nodded in agreement.

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way down to the river, where Kane was having a hard time pulling himself out of the river.

"Are you all right?" Spyro asked as I gave Kane my hand and helped him out of the river.

"Fine, fine. No thanks to you." Kane snapped yanking his arm off my hands, "You nearly got me killed!"

With that, he stormed off yet again. I folded my arms and shook my head and the llama leader.

Spyro, Sparx and I continued onwards until we hit the entrance of, what appeared to be, an obstacle course of sorts, overrun with Ape forces. The first leg of the course had a set of wooden hammers swinging above us, and one of the apes was sitting behind a turret. I quickly used my spiritual flame attacks to dispatch the turret and the staff wielder, while Spyro used his new Ice powers to defeat the others.

The next part of the course was a simple two level pit. The Apes there were less than the ones at the first part, but it didn't make things easier. Luckily, Spyro and I realized that staff wielders are easier to defeat when knocked of a ledge, something Spyro found out when hitting one with his Electric breath. When we reached the area where the third part of obstacle course, Spyro, Sparx and I saw Kane dispatching the last of apes.

"You again?" Kane moaned, catching sight of us, "Why don't you get out of here and leave me in peace? I'm the boss here… Nobody else!"

"Boss of what?" Sparx shot back.

I quickly shushed the golden dragonfly. "You're all alone?" I asked Kane.

"Only until I kick these bums out." Kane answered, "This reminds me, I can't stand here talking to purple dragons, mutant apes, and mosquitoes…"

I folded my arms with a small glare and corrected, "Half-Dragon."

"Whatever." Kane dismissed.

"Hey, whoa, whoa! Who are you calling a mosquito?" Sparx snapped, folding his arms.

"Besides, it's not safe for you here." Kane said, a small hint of concern in his voice. This made me soften my glare and tilt my head in wonder. Is Cynder still here?

Sparx didn't noticed, cause he said in a sarcastic tone, "Oh. Concerned about our welfare now?"

"No need. We can take care of ourselves." Spyro said, "Anyway, we need to get to the shrine."

Kane looked at us, then turned and muttered, "You'll never make it..." Kane skulked away, knocking back an Ape, that tried to sneak up behind him.

Spyro and I scaled the small hills that were now ape free and continued down the trail. The last part of the course had us rolling a set of wooden balls into respective pits, which Spyro and I did without any arguments and taking two balls each. Eventually, the gate opened and we caught up with Kane, standing in front of a door.

"The Shrine God has not been appeased since Cynder came. He is not happy." Kane told us.

"So, is anybody fun around here?" Sparx asked.

"You can't possibly face the God of the Shrine alone." Kane said, unlocking the door with three knocks.

"Not all of us are loners, Kane. I'm not alone." Spyro said, "Maybe one of these days, you'll realize that three heads are better than one."

"Even if they are pin-heads." I added, motioning to Sparx.

"Yeah... Hey!" Sparx snapped, glaring at me.

I chuckled, "Come on, Sparx. I was just yanking your tail section."

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way down to a platform with two houses facing each other.

"I don't like the looks of this thing." Spyro commented.

"Oh, now you tell me." Sparx said in sarcasm.

I nodded in agreement with Spyro. The platform started to look more like an airship with so many auras, it was giving me a headache. Suddenly, the platform started moving. However, a large force of Apes was aboard the airship as well. Spyro and I were able to knock most of them overboard, and the ones we couldn't beat we just simply froze or knocked out with astral energy. Finally, Spyro, Sparx and I reached the next island.

"Well, that was fun." Sparx said in a fake tone.

Unfortunately, there were totems in the way and unfortunately we had to find the necessary triggers to lower them. Complicating matters were the few remaining Apes and more swinging hammers, but Spyro, Sparx and I managed to get through and meet up with Kane in front of a bridge, leading to the Shrine.

"I have to admit, you've done better than I thought possible." Kane grumbled.

"Saying that had to hurt." Sparx snickered.

"More than you could imagine." Kane chuckled at Sparx, then turned to Spyro and I. "There are some things you should know about the Shrine before you enter..."

Kane's information was cut short by a commotion behind him. A large-winged, black figure was flying out of the Shrine, carrying something blue in its mouth. Definitely Cynder with another crystal.

"And I think were done here." Sparx said, with his mouth gapping in fear.

I glared at Sparx, "Not until we rescue Cyril."

"The Atlawa shrine has been desecrated." Kane explained to us, "And the God of the Shrine has not been given tribute since Cynder's forces arrived. But if you can subdue his anger, the balance will be restored... and my people can return home."

"That's fine. But, we came to free Cyril." Spyro said.

"You must go through the God of the Shrine to free him." Kane answered.

"I knew you were gonna say that." Sparx moaned.

Spyro, Sparx, and I crossed the bridge quickly and entered the Shrine. Unfortunately, Dreadwings dropped bombs on to the bridge and it fell apart. No going back now. Apart from an unconscious Cyril and a giant boulder in the middle, it was pretty much barren. Yet, I can sense a disturbed aura around the shrine. I was getting a serious case of deja vu.

"Careful guys. Remember last time." Spyro warned, earning a nodd from me.

"I know, I know. But Cynder left, and I don't see any Ice Kings hanging around this place." Sparx shrugged.

Suddenly, the boulder began to break apart. Before anyone could clue in on what was going on, it quickly sprouted limbs and pulled itself out of the ground. It slowly began walking toward them, an intent to kill in its eyes. Then it made sense. The aura was originating from the Sentinel.

"I hate it when I do that..." I groaned with a shlump.

"When will I learn?" Sparx moaned, "When things look good, run for the hills."

The Sentinel quickly stretched one of its arms out towards me. I quickly jumped out of the way, allowing Spyro to hit it with a torrent of flames. When the flames hit, the Sentinel recoiled in pain. Realizing this thing didn't like fire that much, Spyro continues the assault with a combination for fireballs and close range fire streams.

Unfortunately, this only seemed to make the Sentinel angrier. Every time Spyro or myself managed to get a hit on it, its attacks seemed to get more and more aggressive. There were a couple of times where one of us would be out of it for a spell, forcing the other to fight solo until we shook it off. In the end, Spyro managed to freeze its legs out, allowing me to hit it with a close range Spirit Release, taking it out completely.

"That was quite impressive, young chaps." A voice said behind us.

Spyro and I turned and saw Cyril had finally managed to come too. He was a light blue with white dots and frills at various parts of his body and had a purple underbelly. His tail was ended with multiple curved spikes. His horns looked like white icicles and his purple membraned wings had spikes at the topmost points.

He wore the same monk uniform as Ignitus and Volteer. But, instead of burns, it was covered in snowflakes and frost. I hate it when I do that! Another dragon from my vague memories. I really need to sort these memories out at some point.

"Of course, seeing as one of you is the Purple Dragon, it's not hard to see why, seeing as you have the power of my great ancestors..." He went on.

Cyril continued for a half an hour, claiming that he was a descendant of some great Ice warriors.

"Oh man, he's even worse than Volteer." Sparx muttered to me.

I nodded. I happened to agree with Sparx on this one. Volteer was just a chatterbox with a large vocabulary. Cyril, however, was a boastful dragon, only out to increase the size of his ego. I hope the next Guardian is like Ignitus; soft-spoken and calm.

Luckily, Cyril's rant was cut short by a group of Atlawa entering the Shrine, led by Kane. The Atlawa started bowing and praying to us for some reason. It made my feel uncomfortable.

"You have subdued the God of the Shrine, restoring balance to seasons, the land, our world." Kane said with a smile, "The Atlawa want to worship you now."

"Worship?" Sparx asked, then smiled, "Okay, now that's what I'm talking about. I never get the respect I deserve... The praise that should be mine..." Sparx's rant was cut short by a sigh, from me.

"For crying out loud, Sparx! Don't you start." I said to the golden dragonfly with an annoyed expression.

"That's very nice, Kane." Spyro said, "But we need to get back to our world and figure out how to stop Cynder for good."

"My dear Atlawas, I am the Mighty Sparx. Scourge of the Despots." Sparx said, however his moment was ruined by Cyril.

"Yes, yes, old boy." Cyril spoke up, "And though we'd love nothing more than to stay and be a part of your primitive, barbaric society, but duty calls. Duty calls."

"If you must, you must." Kane said, "But know that you are now part of the Atlawa tribe... One of us."

"I am the Mighty Spar-" Sparx started again, only to see me glare at him, "Whatever."

Cyril quickly got of the rock and began to make his way to leave the shrine. Spyro, Sparx and I quickly followed.

"By the way... You were right." Kane said, getting Spyro's attention.

"About what?" Spyro asked.

"Maybe three heads are better than one." Kane explained, as he walked with us to see us off, "Even if one of them belongs to an annoying mosquito."

"Mosquito, me?" Sparx asked, "Is that... Oh..."


	10. Cyril's Training

Cyril's Training, Cynder's Plan and Volcano Land.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

"Yes, Yes Volteer, I see that months of tortured captivity have done nothing to slow that electric tongue of yours from incessantly wagging." Cyril said.

Ever since Spyro, Sparx, Cyril and I returned to the Temple, Cyril and Volteer had been going back and forth in a brutal argument about Cynder taking their powers. I had to face-palm at this.

"It's just that it's all so exciting, exhilarating, enchanting, enthralling…" Volteer started to say, but, as usual, got tongue tied.

"All right, no more thesauruses for you pal." Sparx snickered.

"All of you please be quiet!" Ignitus yelled, ending the argument. "It is certainly encouraging that Spyro and Eleanor have been able to free the two of you to allow this reunion. But haven't we forgotten someone?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Cyril answered, "Terrador".

"Precisely." Ignitus said, "Now, how do we proceed?"

"I believe I can help, Ignitus." Cyril said, the he turned to me and Spyro, "Well, young chaps, since you've learned a few things about ice and astral on Tall Plains, I suggest we adjourn to the Training Room so that I can teach you more."

Cyril began to suggest, then he started boasting again, "The legacy of the great Ice dragons of yore… My ancestor, who come from the best of the best of this somewhat bedraggled lineage... Is long and storied. With my help, rescuing Terrador will be a certainty."

"Oh, your pomposity, arrogance, and pretentiousness is odious to the extreme." Volteer sighed.

But, Volteer's words didn't phase Cyril at all. "Shall we?" Cyril asked.

Cyril turned and led Spyro and myself to the training room. The statue of the dragon sank into the ground again, so we can begin our training.

"Well chaps, certainly all the abilities you have are nice sidelights." Cyril said as the statue sunk into the ground. "But now, you will learn the secrets of Ice, a power worthy of the elites."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Cyril seemed to like bragging about how he was an Ice legend.

Cyril tested Spyro first, testing him on his ice abilities and teaching him how to shoot ice spikes and how to use katanas effectively. Most of the time he criticized Spyro by saying the early skills were easy. But at the end, he was impressed by the raw power Spyro showed.

During this, I've been thinking about Cynder and the crystals she was creating from the Guardians' powers. The more I think about it, the more it felt like she was collecting keys to unlock a powerful door. Or something similar to that concept. I have to tell Ignitus this.

"Well, you have mastered the element of Ice, something few can boast." Cyril said, once Spyro mastered the Ice Fury. "Eleanor, can you step in the dojo, please?" He called me, breaking my train of thought.

I walked to the center of the dojo. Immediately, a large group of multi-sized dummies appeared around me.

"Astral is one of the rarest powers known in the Realms" Cyril explained, "Very few dragons have heard of this power, and fewer still have mastered it. The Astral Dragon may have revolutionized the power, but only truly powerful beings are able to..."

Cyril was cut short when a sudden darkness filled the room. He looked up and saw that the side of the room the dummies were falling down, one-by-one, as I hit them with an explosion of astral energy waves.

The darkness disappeared and I looked at Cyril with a small smirk. Spyro smiled.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side." Cyril noted.

* * *

 _ ***Minutes later...***_

I told the Dragon Elders of my hypothesis of Cynder's plans. However, they were having a hard time understanding what I was getting at. Ignitus seemed to understand, because his eyes widened in shock.

"So what exactly are you saying, young Eleanor?" Cyril asked.

"Yes. Your hypothesis is intriguing one, but it is perplexing to the extreme." Volteer said.

"Huh?" Sparx said.

"He said he doesn't know what she's talking about." Spyro answered.

"Dude, I never know what he's saying." Sparx moaned.

"What Eleanor is saying is that Cynder is harnessing the Guardians' powers to unlock a portal. A portal that must never be opened." Ignitus explained.

"Yes, Ignitus. Thank you." I thanked.

"Why? What's behind this portal?" Spyro asked.

"That doesn't concern you right now." Ignitus answered in a slight hurried tone. "What does concern you is that you and Eleanor need to get to Munitions Forge, and freeing Terrador before she can create another crystal with his powers."

"And before the volcano... blows... its..." Volteer spoke up in a slight paniced tone.

"That's enough, Volteer. There's plenty of time. Plenty of time." Ingitus assured.

"Plenty of time? What, we need more time to have horrible things happen to us?" Sparx complained, then moaned, "Why couldn't we have stayed at Tall Plains? I'm a big deal there."

"Quit complaining, Sparx." Spyro said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure there's a tribe on Munitions Forge you can save too." I assured the dragonfly, silently rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, but there's always something special about the first tribe you save. You know?" Sparx shot back.

* * *

 _ ***Hours later…***_

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way to the molten surface of Munitions Forge. Around us were large pieces of metal were stuck half-buried in the hardened crust. Ahead was a rather large volcano towering over everything. The volcano made the entire island feel very warm. I closed my eyes and thought back about what Ignitus told us about the island.

* * *

 **"Munitions Forge is an island dominated by Boyzitbig, an unstable volcano that makes life on the surface very dicey" Ignitus explained, "The locals, who live underground, have been forced to mine the metals that Cynder uses to forge her army's weapons".**

 **"What are the locals called?" Spyro asked.**

 **"They're called Manweersmalls." Ignitus answered.**

 **"Right... Do I need to right that down?" Sparx asked.**

 **"Sparx, stop trying to be funny!" I moaned.**

 **"Rumor has it that Cynder is holding Terrador somewhere in the mines" Ignitus went on, "We know she's using him to power the last of the crystals she needs to open the portal. Free him before she gets the chance."**

* * *

"Boy, is it big!" Sparx gawked.

"Boy, it's big!" I agreed.

"No time for sightseeing, guys" Spyro said. "Time to get serious. Let's go".

"Ooohh... not again!" Sparx moaned as Spyro and I made our way down a trail.


	11. Sibling Views

Munitions Forge: The Mole Brothers of Earth and Nature.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

The navigation of Munitions Forge's surface was relatively easy. The force of Cynder's army had to have been underground to avoid the lava, so the few stragglers Spyro and I ran into were easy to take out. The only thing we could do was speculate about what Terrador was like.

"I hope this Terrador is cool." I spoke up. "Seriously, if Terrador is anything like Cyril or Volteer, I swear, I'm gonna scream."

Eventually, Spyro, Sparx and I reached a ramp that lead to a small tunnel. Seeing no other way forward, Spyro lead us up the ramp and into the tunnel. A couple of fire beetles blocked our way, but one or two quick hits were able to take them out.

The tunnel leveled out to an iron mining room. A staff wielder quickly sent out a stream of flames to block the only door, so Spyro and I were forced to take out several waves of Ape grunts that came out. It took several minutes to take them out, and when we did, the staff wielder went on the attack.

Using the same tactics we employed on Tall Planes, Spyro used his Electricity breath to knock him into one of the lava pits, causing the flames in front of the door to die down.

When Spyro and I jumped down from a ledge to a more stable pathway, we realized we were not alone. A small, mole like creature was standing up, apparently asleep. Even with the ugly hat he was wearing, it barely made its way up to Spyro's shoulders. It was wearing black pants and a kind of flock coat. He was covered in ash

"Man, he is small..." Spyro muttered.

I lightly giggled at the comment, now understanding the tribe's name. Suddenly the Manweersmall jerked upright.

"What's that?!" It shrieked in a very thick Louisiana accent, "Who's there?"

The Manweersmall began sniffing around, which gave the impression that all the years spent underground haven't done wonders for his sight.

"It-it's me, Spyro." Spyro introduced himself, hesitantly.

"And the former god of Tall Plains, Sparx." Sparx introduced himself, almost braggingly.

"Imitating Cyril much, Sparx?" I asked with a small glare, before turning back to the Manweersmall and bowed, "I'm Eleanor."

"You don't carry the scent of Cynder's beasts, so you must be friends." It summarized.

"We are." Spyro answered, then asked. "And who are you?"

"I am Mole-Yair, leader of the Manweersmalls." The Manweersmall, Mole-Yair, introduced himself, but then sulked, "But I'm not much of a leader anymore. Those of my people who aren't mining for Cynder are hiding in the caves scared out of their little wits, waiting for Boyzitbig to blow."

At that precise moment, and ground shook. The boys and I struggled to keep our balance.

"Which shouldn't be long." Mole-Yair continued, "If you could help me free them, perhaps there is something I could do for you?"

Spyro and I looked at each other. Mole-Yair certainly knew the value of strength in numbers, as well as trust. However, Spyro looked like he had serious doubts as to how helpful Mole-Yair could be in our mission. As I learned from my former sensei; keep an open mind.

"I don't know." Spyro spoke up, "We're here to rescue a big friend of ours."

"Is he a mighty dragon?" Mole-Yair asked.

"Yes, he is... Why?" I nodded, then asked.

"Because, I know where he's being kept." Mole-Yair exclaimed with a smile, "In the mines near a large labor camp, where my own brother, Exhumor, toils away. Perhaps we can help each other."

"Well... which way do we go? What should we do next?" Spyro asked.

"Oh, it's simple enough." Mole-Yair answered, then continued is a rushed tone, "But we've got to hurry. Boyzitbig is getting more unstable by the minute. We must clear the caves before we can help your friend."

"And you're asking him for directions?" Sparx asked, then folded his arms, "Wow, talk about blind leading the blind."

I sighed and shook my head at the slightly clueless dragonfly.

"Never mind him, Mole-Yair. We're in." Spyro said.

Spyro and I proceeded down the path. The first captured Manweersmall was on top of a small ledge. After Spyro broke it with a quick charge, we jumped down and took out the Apes that were on the trail below us. The rest of the captives were grouped together, so it was easy to free them. Further on the trail, Spyro and I caught up with Mole-Yair.

"Ha Ha!" Mole-Yair yelled in happiness. "You did it, you did it! A thousand thanks."

Mole-Yair started kissing Spyro on his cheeks. Spyro quickly backed off.

"It was nothing." Spyro shrugged with a small blush.

"No problem, pal." Sparx smiled.

"Well, you did your part." Mole-Yair laughed, "Now I'll do mine. Your friend is being kept at the center of the volcano, past the labor camp where my brother, Exhumor, is working. Find him and let him know were friends. He'll tell you how to proceed."

"How will we know 'Exhumor'?" Spyro asked.

"Yeah, all the 'Man-are-we-smalls' look the same to me." Spyro smirked.

"Oh, you'll know him." Mole-Yair laughed, "Trust me; he's the most cantankerous, hard-nosed Manweersmall around. Whatever you do, don't get on his bad side."

Mole-Yair opened the door that led to another mining room. A small group of Apes were waiting for us, but they were easily dispatched.

However, Spyro and I ran into a new problem when several worm-like lava creatures appeared out of a pool of lava. Spyro quickly use an Ice Fury to take them out. At the end of the hall, a staff wielder had set up a firewall and sent several waves of grunts at us. I finished the final wave with an Astral Fury.

At the end of the hall, there was a giant bell hanging from a fragile rope. Spyro hesitantly examined it. What's a bell doing in a violently active volcano?

"I bet you can't ring that bell." Sparx challenged.

"Why would I want to?" Spyro asked.

"Oh, you scared." Sparx laughed.

"I'm not scared." Spyro said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Oh, the big special dragon is afraid of the mean old bell?" Sparx teased, then he shrugged and continued, "Oh, I didn't know. I'm sorry. Oh no, I'm sorry, baby. Why don't I get your pillow all laid out?"

Annoyed of Sparx's teasing, Spyro rang the bell. Dust fell off it as it made the loudest, jaw-wrenching noise imaginable. Some of the dust landed on Spyro and he sneezed. When he did, a green boulder of some sort of energy came out and broke where the bell was attached. I noticed this and saw Spyro standing just under the bell.

"Spyro, watch out!" I shouted.

I pushed Spyro away and the bell landed on top of me.

* * *

 **Spyro's POV.**

Eleanor pushed me away from the shadow and the bell fell right on top of her.

"Eleanor!" Sparx yelled. "Can you hear me? Are you ok, girl?"

Sparx and I tried to listen, but we couldn't hear anything under the bell. Complete silence. Oh my goodness... I was standing a few feet away, horrified about what I just did. My blood ran cold and my heart stopped.

I did this to Eleanor! I killed her with my sneeze! How will I explain this to Ignitus and the others? I never told her that I was actually starting to like her. More than a friend.

"Hey listen, forget about those cracks I made about your... Being a girl and your... Lackiness and being stupid and lacky. Alright?" Sparx said, trying to apologise, "Just get outta there! Please, Eleanor. Don't be dead".

Suddenly, strong, ivy-like vines grew out of the ground and tangled themselves around the bell. Once the vines covered the bell, the vines constricted. With a loud shout, the vines tore the bell apart, freeing Eleanor.

Eleanor fell to her knees, her underbelly and vine markings glowing leaf green for a second, taking deep breaths and the vines returned to the ground.

I sighed in relief. Eleanor was alive and well, and earned a new ability.

Eleanor got back on to her feet, looked at Sparx and asked, "Did you say something?"

"Me? No. No. I was just... Talking out loud, thinking about a day I gotta do." Sparx answered, covering what he said earlier.

"Well, I thought I heard something before I was able to force my way out." Eleanor replied, looking slightly confused.

"Oh, that's funny. Yeah, no. Must be hearing things." Sparx insisted.

Eleanor looked at me and tilted her head. I chuckled, "I'll tell you, later." She nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Our reunion was cut short by a group of grunts. Spyro and I quickly used our new abilities to defeat them. Spyro, Sparx and I continued down the trail to an exposed part of volcano that was outside. Blocking our view was a dismantled railway.

"Come on, you worthless piece of flesh. Let's go!" A deep and hourse voice said from the far end. "We've got to hop on Steam and get back to that Flea-bitten dragon. That crystal should be almost charged and the volcano is on the brink!"

My empathy sight ability told me that the voice belonged to the leader of a group of Apes, standing outside of a train. They got in and the train went down a tunnel.

"Come on guys, we have to catch them." Spyro told us.

Unfortunately, there were a few stragglers standing in the way, so Spyro and I had to take them out before we could proceed any further. Figured as much.

There was a group of levers scattered around the area. Spyro and I knocked them into place and the door onwards opened and a small cart with an engine came out. I jumped up front to drive with Spyro right behind me, with his hands over my shoulders. Sparx, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. I put my hands on the steering rail.

"You don't know how to drive this thing!" Sparx whined, breaking my train of thought.

"How hard can it be?" I asked, then reassured, "It's on rails."

"Oi. Famous last words." Sparx moaned, as he barely got on before I started the engine and the cart took off.

The cart caught up with Steam in a matter of minutes. I quickly shot my psychokinetic waves at the crystals, while Spyro used his fireballs, on the caboose, breaking it off. Steam slowed down at one point and chased us down. However, we went the wrong way at a fork and had to jump off when the track ended. The cart landed in a pool of lava as Spyro and I floated down.

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way down a molten river to find a new enemy: Giant scorpions with Apes riding them. A pair of them came out of the lava and began attacking us. Spyro was able to defeat his by shocking it down a cliff, while I used my spirit flames to burn the other.

After that, we encountered the one thing we thought was going to be impossible: a pair of Dreadwings inside a volcano. It also appeared they were smarter than their previous brethren, as they wouldn't let Spyro shock them into the lava. Luckily, I was able to use a psychokinetic pulse to knock them out of the air and into the river.

After managing to get across a railway without getting run over, Spyro, Sparx and I encountered another Manweersmall, this one wearing the same flock coat as Mole-Yair, except a lot dirtier and he was a bit bigger. When we were approaching him, he turned, pointing the cane he was holding threateningly.

"Wait, wait, wait, we're on your side!" Spyro gasped.

"More likely spies for the Conductor." The Manweersmall said, its voice sounding rather coarse, "Or that winged beast, Cynder." This identified the Manweersmall as Exhumor, Mole-Yair's brother.

I remembered what Mole-Yair told us and spoke up, "Mole-Yair sent us."

"My brother is alive?" Exhumor asked, lowering his cane.

"He sure is pal, all safe and sound." Sparx nodded, then folded his arms, "But I gotta say, he's the friendly one in the family."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Exhumor apologised, "In these dark times, one can't take chances." He smiled, "So Mole-Yair is alive. Wonderful news." Then he asked, "But why did he send you here?"

Spyro and Sparx looked at me, obviously hinting that I should talk. I looked at Exhumor, "Well, he said you might be able to help us to find where our friend, Terrador, is."

"If he's a big dragon, I certainly can." Exhumor answered, "The majority of the Manweersmalls are kept here in this camp, forced to live above ground and mine for Cynder. And there are rumors that your dragon friend is being kept somewhere inside... In the darkest pits of the volcano. All of us are doomed..."

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Spyro said with a determined look.

"What do you mean?" Exhumor asked.

"Yeah, what do you mean?" Sparx added.

"He means we're gonna free the Manweersmalls, venture to the darkest pits of Boyzitbig, and find Terrador." I answered with a determined look of my own.

"Then, it's off to karaoke!" Sparx shouted in a 'I-can't-believe-this' tone.

Spyro and I then jumped down to the camp. In a matter of minutes, the Apes were defeated, and the captured Manweersmalls were released. Spyro, Sparx and I returned to Exhumor, only to find that Mole-Yair just arriving from finding another way to reach us.

"Well, I see you two crazy kids found each other." Sparx's said with a smile.

"Yes, at last. Thanks to you." Mole-Yair answered with a smile.

"We were just disappointed, that you didn't leave any fun for us." Exhumor said.

"Maybe next time." I assured with a giggle.

"Now, which way to Terrador?" Spyro asked.

"That way. But be careful." Exhumor answered, pointing to a large door, then warned us, "The Conductor and his maniacal locomotive will surely be close by."

"When you say 'be careful', does that mean 'try not to die'?" Sparx asked, "I'm trying to do that anyway."

"Come, Exhumor." Mole-Yair said to his brother. "We have to get all the Manweersmalls underground... Where they belong."

Suddenly, the ground started shaking again. This time it was more violent than when we first met Mole-Yair. Spyro and I lost our balance and fell on our tails.

"Yes, it won't be long now." Exhumor said.

As Mole-Yair began sheepherding the frightened Manweersmalls into the cave, Exhumor opened the only door that was in the camp. With Boyzitbig on the verge of eruption, and Cynder lurking anywhere, I couldn't help but wonder if we're able to save Terrador in time.


	12. The First Confrontation

Terrador and Cynder: The First Confrontation.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx and I had been walking through the depths of Boyzitbig for some time now. We hadn't really ran into any resistance, except some gas vents and the occasional Dreadwing. We spent most of the time speculating if the Manweersmalls would be able to get underground in time.

Our first real challenge was a small group of grunts inside a small arena. It took one Earth shot from Spyro to take most of the group out, giving me the opportunity to finish up everyone else. We then went into a hallway and had to take out another one of the scorpions. This time there was no ledge to knock it off, so Spyro had to use an Electric Fury just to take it down. We proceeded into a room that had a giant flower bud of sorts and had to take out a small swarm of fire beetles to go on.

The last obstacle to cross was a small chasm with several floating platforms. We jumped from platform to platform, taking out Ape grunts that got in our way. Finally we made it to a ledge that had a giant doorway. Proceeding through, Spyro and I saw that we were now in the center of the volcano.

The first thing I noticed was a floating cage surrounded by a green aura. Looking inside I saw a large dragon unconscious. I nudged Spyro and pointed to the cage. Spyro looked and noticed.

"Is that Terrador?" I asked, pointing to the cage.

"Big dragon being held prisoner in the center of an explosive volcano?" Sparx laughed, "I'm guessing that's Terrador."

"Careful... It's never this easy." Spyro warned.

"Hey, after the last two times, you're not gonna hear me arguing." Sparx said.

The door on the opposite side opened up. The train that we were chasing earlier came out, so the Ape driving it had to be the Conductor.

"Oh, here we go again." Sparx moaned.

"You're a little late, fellas." the Conductor laughed, "The crystals already charged and the volcano's ready to blow. But before it does, me and Steam here are going to take great pleasure in running you down!"

I sighed and didn't want to give the Conductor the satisfaction. As soon as the Conductor said those words, I aimed my hand at the engine and fired an astral beam into it.

"What! No!" The Conductor yelled as Steam exploded.

The shockwave broke the cage that held Terrador, causing him to fall to the ground. Fortunately the short drop woke him up. Spyro and I ran up to him as he slowly got to his feet.

Unlike the other Guardians, Terrador was slightly plain in appearance. He was a forest green with a tan underbelly and brown marks on his back. His horns were bent back like a rams, and his tail ended in a rock-like mace. Unlike the others, there were several scars marked on his underbelly, and his brown membraned wings were frayed at the bottom.

He also wore a badly torn up monk uniform with strong armor over it, obvious dead giveaway that he was a warrior.

Another dragon from my dreams. And this one I felt very close to. Why?

He took one look at Spyro before realizing what he was looking at.

"The purple dragon... lives." He said in a deep baritone.

"He's got a name, you know." Sparx said.

"Yes, my name is Spyro." Spyro answered and introduced himself, "These are my friends, Sparx and Eleanor... And you must be Terrador."

"Yes, yes, I am." Terrador nodded, "And I must say I never thought I'd live to see you, Spyro."

Terrador looked at me. I bowed in respect. Terrador bowed his head back.

"Look, I'd love to sit here and hug everybody and chit-chat." Sparx began, "But, how 'bout we leave, before the volcano blows up?"

"I hate to admit it, but I agree with Sparx right now." I spoke up with a small nod.

"You're right." Terrador said. "I need to tell the other's what Cynder's up to."

Sparx agreed, "Let's go. I'm right behind ya." Then he corrected his joke, "Actually, I'm right in front of ya."

Spyro, Sparx and I, along with Terrador, began walking to the door. However, a pillar of lava shot into the air. We watched in horror as Cynder burst out of the lava and stared down at the volcano.

Cynder definitely looked like a dark dragon. While all the other dragons Spyro and I had seen were more built, she was a lot sleeker. She was entirely jet black and had a blood red underbelly. She wore what looked like an armored dress. She had markings on her forehead, back, shoulders and thighs, and had bands on her neck, legs, and tail, which ended in a scythe. She had six silver horns around her head, and her red-membraned wings had several holes. Her eyes were a soft cyan.

"Run!" Terrador yelled as he prepared to take flight to meet Cynder.

Unfortunately, Cynder heard him. She looked down and saw that Terrador had escaped.

"Look, when the guy says 'run', I think he means something." Sparx moaned.

Cynder went for a dive straight into the volcano. She grabbed the crystal that had taken Terrador's powers just as the Earth dragon took flight. Just as he was catching up with her, however, Cynder turned and struck him down with her tail. He crashed into a support beam, causing a pair of boulders to pin his tail down.

"Run, children! Fly like you've never flown before!" Terrador yelled. "I'll go back to the Temple and get help!"

Suddenly, Cynder turned and noticed Spyro and myself. Immediately, her eyes began to narrow as she recalled her general's reports about how they failed to guard the Temple and the other two Guardians. She let out a roar of rage.

"What do we do now?" Spyro asked.

I took a quick shot at Cynder. She didn't take too kindly to the spiritual flame. Fear-stricken, Spyro grabbed my hand and ran off to take flight, while Cynder was distracted. As soon as she regained her composure she chased after us.

Spyro and I were dodge pillars of lava falling down from above them. Cynder was trying as hard as she could to catch up with us, sending dark blasts every time she had an opening. Spyro and I shot blasts of our own, forcing her to move out of the way.

We made it back to the surface seconds before the volcano erupted. However, Cynder was gaining fast. Just as she was about to grab me, something large and orange intercepted her.

Spyro and I turned around. Cynder was growling furiously, trying to throw off Ignitus, as the great fire dragon was trying to stop her from killing us. We watched in horror as Ignitus rugby tackled her back to the volcano.

Out of worry and shock, I called, "Ignitus!"

Shocked and worried as well, Spyro made a move to go back, but Terrador, having managed to escape well before the eruption, flew in front of him.

"We have to go after them... Help Ignitus!" Spyro pleaded.

"They're gone, Spyro." Sparx said, his tiny head hung low, "There's nothing we can do."

"I don't care." Spyro gasped, "Ignitus wouldn't leave me."

I placed my hand over Spyro's shoulder in sympathy.

"Spyro, he's right." Terrador said.

"I'm right?" Sparx asked, "Oh my god, that's a first."

"Yes." Terrador nodded, "You'll never find them in this mess. And you are not ready to face Cynder yet. The time to fight will come... But it is not now."

Spyro hung his head, "I guess you're right." He sighed, "Let's go."

Spyro followed Terrador and Sparx back to the Temple. In anger and a heavy heart, I took one final look at the volcano and balled my hands into fists, before following.

* * *

 _ ***Several hours later...***_

Spyro, Sparx, Terrador and I finally made it back to the Temple. Cyril and Volteer were pacing outside, obviously worried about Ignitus' departure.

"Welcome back, Terrador." Volteer said.

"Yes, yes, Volteer." Terrador said. "We don't have time for that."

Cyril took a look around and noticed someone was not with us. "Where's Ignitus?" He asked.

Spyro and I hung our heads in shame and regret.

"Oh no..." Cyril gasped.


	13. Terrador's Training

Terrador's Training: Earth and Nature.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

"It's my fault... I failed Ignitus when he needed me most." Spyro cried, then tried to explain, "It's just that the sight of Cynder so close just... Just..." Spyro couldn't go any further.

The Guardians, along with Spyro, Sparx and myself, were standing near the Pool of Visions. Spyro had been crying his eyes out for several hours over Cynder capturing Ignitus. Nothing Terrador said could calm him down. Only thing I could do was wrap my arms around the poor young dragon. Give him a shoulder to cry on. It's the least I could do.

"Made your heart stop?" Sparx tried, "Put ice in your veins? Scared the crud out of you?"

"Yeah, something like that." Spyro nodded.

"You're not alone, Spyro." I spoke up, "Cynder scared the heck out of me too."

Spyro looked at me and gave a small smile.

"All warriors feel fear at one time or another, Spyro." Terrador explained, "There is no shame in that."

"Yes, it's a proven scientific fact that the quotient between adrenaline and trepidation…" Volteer started.

"Volteer, please. I believe our friend was trying to make a point" Cyril interupted.

"Thank you, Cyril." Terrador thanked, then looked at Spyro and myself, "What I was going to say was that all warriors feel fear. But only the most valiant among us can face that fear, and master it. From what I saw on Munitions Forge, you and Eleanor are both such warriors."

Spyro looked up at Terrador, his tears beginning to stem off. Terrador smiled and then began walking toward the training room.

"Young dragon... Eleanor... Now is the time to complete your training." Terrador told us, "Now is the time to face your fears. Come."

Spyro and I followed Terrador into the training room.

"Am I the only one still petrified?" Sparx asked the others.

Once again, the dragon statue sunk into the ground to allow room for Spyro and myself.

"The power to harness the soil, the wind, the world itself is almost within your grasp." Terrador said, "Let's begin."

Learning about Spyro's Earth abilities and my nature-based powers turned out to be very easy, as both of them were very powerful. Throughout the training, I felt strongly connected to my abilities. It was like I was meant to control this element. Like I was born to. Terrador was slightly surprised about how fast we had managed to get the hang of it.

"Good job." Terrador said after I finished my last exercise. "Now the final confrontation awaits."

Terrador, Spyro and I made our way back to the pool as the statue repositioned itself in the room.

"You both have done well." Terrador said.

"Yes, yes. Pat on the back, good going, all that other rubbish, but we've got to get moving here." Cyril said in a rushed tone.

"Oh, Cyril is being terribly obnoxious." Volteer moaned, but his tone turned worried, "But in this case he happens to be right, Terrador. Ignitus is the last piece to Cynder's puzzle. If that last crystal is powered, the portal will open and we'll all be done for."

"I know, I know." Terrador sighed, then he explained to us, "When I was on Munitions Forge, I overheard the Conductor say that Cynder's final preparations would take place at her lair, where she lives in solitude among the clouds and the towers. I am certain that's where she's taken Ignitus."

"We have to go. Come on." Spyro said, looking at Terrador.

"I'd give anything to go with you, young warrior, but that crystal's sapped the last of my will." Terrador said with a small sulk, "I fear my fighting days are over."

"Every generation must pass the torch to the next, Terrador." Volteer assured, "Our time is done."

"Yes, it is Spyro and Eleanor's time to shine." Cyril said, all traces of his pompousness gone, "Now go to it, young dragons."

"Yes, sir!" Spyro said with a smile.

I bowed and joined Spyro.

"Wow, you guys make even me want to face Cynder!" Sparx said, then realized something, "Did I say that out loud?"

* * *

 _ ***Several hours later...***_

* * *

 **Cynder's lair is where hope goes to die.**

 **A dark, foreboding place where Cynder skulks and broods and plans her next assault.**

 **You must make your way to her fortress, where I'm sure Ignitus is being held.**

* * *

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way through a forest of crystals. I had done some research before we left and had found out that the place used to be called 'Crystal Forest', but is now known as Concurrent Skies, an electric haven. Sounds like Volteer's kind of home, but... darker and more Cynder-like.

"The next time I say I want to face Cynder, Eleanor, punch me in the mouth." Sparx requested of me.

I smiled and nodded to Sparx, "No problem."

Spyro and I took a look around as a growl was heard overhead. Cynder had to have been at the top of a black, ivy-covered castle, trying to restrain Ignitus to power a crystal. Spyro and I made our way forward.


	14. The Truth

Concurrent Skies: The Truth.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro was starting to worry if Ignitus was still alive. That shriek we heard earlier had told us Cynder was on one of the taller towers, which made him think Ignitus might be dead before we even get there. I knew Ignitus is still alive. I can sense it.

We saw a large, white ape notice us. He hit his shield with his weapon and pointed at us. Then he ran off, charging through the first gate.

"Terrador made it sound like this place is uninhabited." Sparx remarked on what Terrador told us about the place.

"What fun would that be?" I asked with a smile.

Then Spyro turned serious, "Come on, we've gotta take them out."

Spyro and I made it to the outermost wall of the castle without meeting any resistance, except for a couple of giant electric leeches.

A staff wielder surrounded the area with an energy wall and sent wave after wave of grunts at us. I gotta say, this is actually really fun. Life was getting boring back home.

Spyro and I quickly plowed through the enemies and made our way inside the castle. Unfortunately, it did not have Ignitus or Cynder inside. Our first obstacle was a laser grid of some kind. Spyro and I had to use our timing when the lasers would change sides, then cross the hallway and take out a pair of grunts on the other side. We then entered the next room and had to raise several crystal platforms. We've come to the conclusion that the platforms would only rise when we defeat all of the enemies inside.

Spyro, Sparx and I made it to a crystal lined hallway, but there path was blocked by several crystal golems. I quickly made short work of them with a constriction of vines, and we proceeded down the trail, taking out grunts along the way. Spyro and I entered a room that was swarming with Apes and were forced to take them all out.

After that, we went into another crystal hallway. Sparx went ahead, but had to jump out of the way when something large and black shot past him, knocking him to the ground.

Worried, Spyro and I ran to the grounded dragonfly.

"I can't talk... Heart... Breaking up." Sparx gasped.

The worry faded to annoyance as Spyro and I rolled our eyes at Sparx. He was alright, just wanted to play a joke.

"Come on. Ignitus is waiting." Spyro the golden dragonfly.

A little ways down on the path, a Dreadwing dropped a staff wielder and several grunts in the way, but they were no match for us. At the end of the hall was a surrounded platform. When Spyro and I got on, it suddenly went up.

After knocking off a few Apes on the way up, we reached the next room. Unfortunately, Spyro and I ran into a bunch of orbs that were making some sort of static energy. After breaking all off them to pieces, we crossed a hallway to the next area. Unfortunately it was a dead end outside, so Spyro and I had to fly from tower to tower.

"Still don't like it." Sparx spoke up.

"Still doesn't matter. Ignitus needs us." I argued.

"I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it would be easier if she was smaller. A lot smaller." Sparx explained, talking about Cynder.

After reaching a stable tower, and knocking off a few Apes, Spyro and I entered it... Only to find out we were at the bottom of a chasm of sorts. After taking out the swarm of enemies, Spyro and I made our way to some sort of ice arena with a barrier on the other side.

A staff wielder stepped forward. It then sent a small swarm of grunts after us, two of which manned a pair of electrified cannons. After taking them out, along with another swarm that came when another staff wielder barriered the pathway, we were able to continue.

After about fifteen minutes of taking out more crystal golems, Spyro and I made our way to the main entrance of the main castle. I was sure this was where Cynder took Ignitus, because I could sense his aura, slowly weakening. As Spyro and I had pretty much predicted, a swarm of Apes, led by two staff wielders were standing in front of the castle.

We were able to defeat them in about 45 second with a couple of well placed earth tornados and astral waves. However, just as we were about to go in, an electric entity in black armor, similar to the Ice King, walked in front of us.

This 'Electric King' shot up a barrier around itself, preventing us from getting physical. It also had a habit of dropping crystals, making attacking it close range a near impossibility. To make matter worse, when I broke its arm off with side by side vine constrictions, it simply pulled them back in. Spyro and I won in the end, by jamming a fireball and psychokinetic blast at the crystal in its chest, causing it to break apart.

Spyro, Sparx and I made our way into the castle. Another one of the staff wielders was standing on an elevator pad, so we had to take it out to proceed. However, it had bolted the pad down, so we were forced to destroy the locks before it went up.

After taking out more Apes and locks on several floors, Spyro and I made it to the top of the castle. Winds were howling around us, causing a chill to go down my spine. We turned around and immediately took a step back from what we saw; Ignitus, like Terrador, was suspended in an energy cage held up by a crystal. Spyro's initial reaction was to go forward. I followed.

"Guys?" Sparx called out. "Guys!"

"What?" Spyro asked.

"I don't like this." Sparx told us, "It feels like she's baiting us. I'm getting smarter."

I gave a look to Sparx and closed my eyes. The atmosphere grew heavy. Cynder was here, but she was stalking. Sparx was right. She's baiting us.

Ignitus began to regain consciousness. He looked down and saw us in front of him.

"Spyro... Eleanor... Destroy the crystal... Quickly!" He managed to call out.

"Let's get him out of here before Cynder gets back!" Spyro said.

The words barely left his mouth when Cynder moved from the shadows, stepping in front of us before we could go forward. I quickly pushed Spyro behind me and took an offensive stance.

"If only it were that easy, little ones." She said in a cold voice.

"S-S-S-S-S-S-So... B-B-B-B-B-Big" Sparx stammered, backing away.

Cynder smiled when she saw one of her next prey retreating in terror.

"Time you learned how complicated life can be." She went on.

Before Spyro could defend himself, Cynder head butted him, sending him several feet away from where the crystal was. I jumped out of the way and crouched into fighting stance.

"Run, Spyro... Eleanor... Save yourselves!" Ignitus yelled.

"Not this time." Spyro said, getting to his feet.

I nodded, "This time we fight!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha... Bring it." Cynder challenged.

Spyro quickly went into the attack by launching a fireball, which missed wide as Cynder jumped out of the way. I came too and launched a psychokinetic pulse at her, which missed wide as well. An idea hit me, as I nudged Spyro to get his attention.

"I'll go low, if you go high." I suggested to him.

Spyro nodded and took off into the air. While Cynder was distracted by Spyro, I power slid under her, scoring a hit with my spiritual flames, and allowing Spyro to follow up with an electric jolt, making Cynder fall down. I ran forward and charged up for a close range Psychokinetic Pulse.

However, before I could set it off, something weird happened; the evil presence inside Cynder began to ebb off. I felt this, seeing the true innocence inside Cynder's true eyes, and lowered my stance. Spyro landed next to me, staring at her as well.

"Cynder?" I asked, as I looked in her eyes.

Suddenly, the evil inside Cynder came back as quickly as it left, and she got up.

"It's so sad it must end this way." She laughed.

A whip of her tail caught us off guard and we were sent farther away from Ignitus.

"Now... Where was I?" Cynder muttered.

She quickly grabbed the crystal before Spyro or myself got up. Ignitus landed hard to the ground as she took off, crashing through a window as she took off.

"Does she ever use doors?" Sparx asked.

Ignitus got up and slowly made his way toward Spyro and I.

"There was something in her eyes, Ignitus." I told Ignitus.

Spyro nodded in agreement, "Something familiar."

"There should be, Spyro." Ignitus explained, "You, Eleanor and Cynder share more than you know."

I tilted my head in confusion.

"It's time I told you the truth... All of it." Ignitus began explaining his story, "You see, after I sent your egg down the Silver River, and Lorraine's disappearance, I returned to the Grotto to find... Utter chaos. The other Guardians have been overrun... And all the other eggs had been smashed by the Dark Master's forces... All except one. You see, the Dark Master was torn. He wanted to destroy the eggs to prevent the birth of the Purple Dragon, but he also needed a dragon."

"Why would he need a dragon?" Spyro asked skeptically.

"Because, Spyro, only a dragon born in the Year of the Dragon could open the portal that served as the Dark master's prison." Ignitus explained.

"Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"I'm afraid so." Ignitus muttered with a small nodd.

"If Spyro, Cynder and I came from the same place, why is she so, so...?" I tried to ask, but couldn't find the right word.

"Evil?" Sparx tried, "Monstrous? Big? Sexy? Oops, did I just say that?"

"Because, after the night of the raid, she was corrupted by the Dark Master's poisonous powers... Twisted by his evil lore. She's become the Dark Master's monster."

Spyro and I shook our heads in dismay. All this time. All of this destruction and bringing terror to the skies, and it wasn't even her fault to begin with. She was brainwashed by this 'Dark Master' guy. Who, or whatever he is.

"But why?" Spyro asked, "What does this 'Dark Master' want?"

"He wants to be freed from the portal of Convexity... To wreak havoc across the realms" Ignitus answered sadly, "And if Cynder gets there, he just might succeed."

A flash drew us out of the discussion. The boys and I looked up to see a sight: a lavender portal had opened in the sky.

"I'm afraid we might be too late!" Ignitus said.

"No... I refuse to give up." Spyro said, shaking his head and added with determination, "I'm going to stop Cynder and the Dark Master."

"Wait you, you heard the dragon, Spyro." Sparx said, "He said 'too late'. We'll get him next time." He dusted off his hands before continuing, "Come on, champ. You did a great job. And, let's... Let's take five."

I shook my head, "No! We're ready! Now!"

"Okay. Okay, you're right." Ignitus said, "At the very least, you have to try. If the Dark Master escapes, a shadow will fall over the land, and who knows what will happen then."

With that, Spyro and I took off, with a rather reluctant Sparx following them.

"May the Ancestors look after you..." Ignitus prayed, "May they look after us all."


	15. Rescue

Rescue the Innocent.

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Spyro, Sparx, and I were flying through this purple shrouded fog for what felt like an hour. We had not seen anything else for a while, which led me to feel like we were flying through a loop. I closed my eyes and recalled what Ignitus had telepathically said before we went through the portal.

* * *

 **Convexity acts as an airlock between our world and the Dark Realms beyond.**

 **You must stop Cynder before she inserts the final crystal and activates the portal, freeing the Dark Master.**

* * *

Eventually, Spyro, Sparx and I managed to land on a platform overlooking the area. Ahead of us was a larger chunk of land that had a small tower that was emitting some sort of energy tornado. Before we could get a clear view, our sight was cut off by a creature that looked like a cross between a jellyfish and a hermit crab.

"Now... I've seen everything..." Sparx moaned.

"Yeah, and if we don't hurry, you're about to see a whole lot more." Spyro snapped, "Come on!"

Spyro and I took off, heading right for the main island.

* * *

 _ ***Meanwhile...***_

 **Narrator's POV.**

Cynder was sure that she had gotten to the island before the interferers. She made her way to the portal, ready to place the final crystal into the portal and free her master.

 _'Don't do this, Cynder!'_ Her good side thought, trying to take control, _'This isn't right. You know that! That Spyro guy will surely put a stop to this.'_

 _'No!'_ Her evil side fought, regaining control, _'That purple whelpling isn't strong enough to defeat me and neither is that Half-Dragon girl.'_

She made her way up to the tower and placed the crystal on the ground. At once, it floated up and entered the portal.

"My master returns..." She muttered, kneeling to the floor.

Spyro and Eleanor landed silently behind her.

"We're too late!" Spyro gasped.

Cynder got up and turned around, surprised they'd even made it this far.

"Hmmm, persistent little fellas aren't you?" She smirked, getting into an attack stance, "This is where it really ends."

"Bring it!" Eleanor hissed, letting herself and Spyro fall into a defensive formation.

"No mercy this time." Cynder growled, and with that she went on the attack.

Sparx back away and covered his eyes, "I can't watch this."

Spyro and Eleanor dodged the dark fire stream and shot blasts of their own. Cynder dodged the earth shot but couldn't get out of the way of the spiritual flame burst that came after. Cynder recovered and dived straight at them.

Eleanor sent psychokinetic blast after psychokinetic blast at her, attempting to knock her out of the air. She dodged every one except the last one, which clipped her right wing and sent her crashing down. At this point, Cynder'd had enough of them and sent out a Fire Fury blast.

Spyro and Eleanor responded by going for another earth shot and astral wave. But this time, instead of the green energy ball and a wave of black energy, two beams of purple and azure blue light shot out, knocking Cynder out of the air before she knew what was going on.

"Impossible..." Cynder gasped.

Spyro just gawked at what he had done. He'd never seen that sort of power come out of him before. Eleanor continued to attack Cynder with the blue beams. It was then that Spyro and Eleanor heard their mentor's voice.

* * *

 _ **"Now it is time to unleash the true dragon within you both."**_

* * *

As Cynder was rising into the air, Spyro began charging his powers into a large purple sphere, while Eleanor closed her eyes, her pastel green scales turned ghostly white and her body became enveloped by azure astral mist.

When Cynder got to a certain height, Eleanor completely turned into mist, merged with the sphere and the sphere released an astral asian dragon. The same dragon Ignitus saw. Cynder screamed as the dragon merged with her enveloped her body in an astral mist.

Cynder fell down, hitting the ground with a hard thud. She let out a small moan and refused to move. The mist retreated next to Spyro and Eleanor reappeared from it. Spyro and Eleanor stared at Cynder for a while. Eleanor's scales stayed their new ghostly white.

A black light started coming out of Cynder's body. Before they knew what was going on, Cynder shrank. Her horns shrank back into her head, her wings healed over, and she now appeared to be the same size as Spyro.

"She is just like me." Spyro gasped.

Suddenly, the ground on the island began to shake violently. Spyro, Eleanor and Sparx turned their heads and received a shock; The portal was starting to fluxuate and was now beginning to suck everything in range. Spyro and Eleanor tried to grab a hold of the island, stopping themselves from getting sucked in.

"Dude, we gotta get outta here, now!" Sparx said, with a hint of making a quick exit.

"We can't leave her behind." Spyro said, motioning to Cynder, "We've got to save her!"

"What? Save the beast that's been trying to kill us?" Sparx gawked.

"That wasn't her fault." Eleanor shot back, "She was being used by the Dark Master."

Eleanor looked back and noticed that Cynder was slowly beginning to drift closer to the portal. When Cynder went to the air, Eleanor let go, went airborne and followed Cynder as she hit the portal, disappearing into the beam of energy before Spyro or Sparx could stop her.

"ELEANOR!" Spyro screamed.

"Spyro, there's nothing you can do for her." Sparx said.

The ground was beginning to shake more violently, indicating the portal was gonna give out very soon.

"We can't stay here, Spyro!" Sparx yelled. "We have to get out of here!"

With a heavy heart, Spyro flew away from the portal as fast as he could; travelling down the tunnel they had used to enter Convexity.

* * *

 _ ***Meanwhile...***_

The Guardians were standing on the balcony with bated breath, looking for some sign that Spyro, Sparx or Eleanor were alive. They didn't have to wait long, as a portal opened up, sending Spyro and Sparx crashing into the steps. The Guardians ran up to them.

"Are you all right?" Ignitus asked, "Where's Eleanor?"

Spyro let out a sob and started crying.

"She couldn't make it..." Sparx said somberly.

Terrador, Cyril, and Volteer hung their head as Ignitus hugged Spyro, trying to comfort his pupil from the pain he was feeling. He led Spyro and Sparx back into the Temple.

* * *

 _ ***Several minutes earlier...***_

 **Eleanor's POV.**

Okay, this was really creepy. And I've seen some really creepy things in the past few days. The moment I entered the portal, to save Cynder, I've been floating in some kind of void, with hardly anything else in sight.

I looked around and saw Cynder floating about 100 feet away. I quickly glided over and caught her, slinging her onto my back.

As soon as I was going to leave, a demonic sounding laugh echoed behind me.

"Well, well, well, it appears I have a guest." The voice said behind me. The voice was from my dreams.

I turned around and saw only some sort of shadow that looked like the shape of a tall, very well built dragon.

"How very noble of you, coming after my slave like that." The shadow said, "Noble, but stupid."

I glared at the shadow with hard eyes.

"I see you have immeasurable power, Astral Dragon." The shadow continued, "Join me, and you'll know what power is like."

The shadow showed me images of destruction, fear and death. The one responsible looked just like me, but her scales were black, her underbelly was purple, and her eyes were a maniacal red. Realization hit me like a bell. The girl was me.

I closed my eyes and went deep into thought. If I do recieve this power, will I cause this much destruction? I'm strong enough to do what I would like to do. I don't want destruction. I want to help bring peace to the world. I never want to harm the innocent, it's wrong!

"What do you say, Astral Dragon?" The shadow asked, "Will you join me and learn how far your powers can go?"

I opened my eyes, glared at the shadow with hard eyes and my tone dark and demanding, "Go to hell..."

With that, I threw a glowing seed at the shadow, causing it be surrounded in a rose bush and unable to move.

"YOU!" The shadow shouted as it tried to free itself from the roses.

I shot backward from the way I came, exiting the portal before it completely sealed itself. I travelled down the tunnel and back to the Dragon Realms. I could hear the shadow calling my name.

However, the strain of flying began to take its toll on me. With the last of my strength, I broke through to the end and landed in an open field. However, I had to use up the very last of my strength to open the portal and had to stop flying. I landed on the ground with a hard thud along with Cynder.

The moment my feet hit the ground, I could bearly stand up. My head felt heavy and I couldn't keep my eyes open.

I looked up in a daze, "Mum, tell Sam to stop shouting!" Darkness took over my vision and I blacked out.


	16. Reunion

Reunion of a Lost Family.

 **Cynder's POV.**

I groaned as I recovered from the darkness leaving my soul and the battle I had with the Purple Dragon, Spyro and the Half-Dragon, Eleanor. I shakily got back to my feet and looked around. I was standing in a peaceful valley. The sound of bees fluttering around flowers were all around me.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. This has to be an illusion from the Dark Master. I won't fall for it again!

I opened my eyes and the valley was still around me. A butterfly landed on my nose. I lightly giggled, because it tickled, and the butterfly flew away.

Wait. It tickled. This realm is real!

I heard a light moan beside me and saw a Half-Dragon with ghostly white scales and ghostly pale skin, in ripped overalls and hooded poncho, laying on the ground, with her face in the ground.

I quietly walked up to her and gently tapped her with my hand, "Hello? Are you okay?"

I got no response. Worry filled my mind, as I gently and slowly pushed the Half-Dragon to her side. Her face was slightly covered in dirt, but I could see that she was covered in scars, wounds and briuses. And she looked like she wasn't waking up anytime soon.

"Oh no..." I gasped in horror as realization hit me. Eleanor! I gotta get her back to the Temple now.

I picked up Eleanor onto my back, good thing she was lighter than she looks, and took off toward the first large building I could see.

* * *

 _ ***Meanwhile...***_

 **Spyro's POV.**

I had finally stopped crying for a couple of hours now, but I was still very sad. Eleanor sacrificed herself the second time to save us. And this time, she won't be coming back. I was sitting on the balcony, looking up at the setting sun. I noticed Ignitus walking up and sat down next to me.

"Feeling better, Spyro?" He asked me.

"Not really, Ignitus." I answered with a sad look, "I just can't believe she's gone".

"I know Spyro, I miss her too." Ignitus replied, "Eleanor was a good soul. A true Astral Dragon."

Suddenly, Sparx flew into the balcony, looking completely winded.

"You guys have got to come see this!" He said, flying off before Ignitus and I could say anything.

Wondering what stunt Sparx was trying to pull now, Ignitus and I made our way to where the dragon statue resided and received a shock; Cynder laying an unconscious ghostly white Half-Dragon, in ripped clothing, next to the statue with the other Guardians watching at a distance. I smiled and my heart felt warm again. I know the Half-Dragon's face anywhere. Eleanor and Cynder were okay. But, something felt off. Eleanor's underbelly scales were very pale, almost as pale as her skin. Like her life energy was drained out of her.

"Impossible..." Ignitus gasped.

For some reason, Terrador was the first to inspect Eleanor. Cynder quickly backed away when the Earth Guardian approached the unconscious Half-Dragon. This was the odd thing, Terrador placed his hand over Eleanor's shoulder and started gently shaking her. Like a parent does to its young.

This would make a bit of sense. Eleanor's personality traits and ability to control nature. Nature and Earth are similar concepts. Could it be that Terrador is Eleanor's real father? That might make sense. She is Half-Dragon. Those genes have to have come from somewhere.

The second after Terrador shook her, Eleanor lightly groan awake. She opened her eyes, and lifted herself up to a more comfortable sitting position. The Guardians, Cynder, Sparx and I ran up to her.

"Ugh, my head... What happened?" Eleanor asked, rubbing her head in pain.

"Are you all right?" Ignitus asked.

"Yeah, I-I think so..." Eleanor asnwered with a small smile.

"Well, I hope you learned not to jump into places you don't know the exit to." Sparx said.

Eleanor gave Sparx a glare, "Excuse me for trying to save a friend." Cynder's eyes widen at Eleanor's words.

"What happened after you jumped into that portal?" Terrador asked.

"Well, Cynder wasn't that far ahead of me." Eleanor answered, explaining what happened, "As soon as I was about to leave with her, some shadow tried to convince me to join his side. I refused, of course, and caged it with a rose bush. I managed to escape with Cynder. I don't remember much after that."

Terrador lightly smiled at the Half-Dragon. Then he asked, "Can you stand up?"

"Barely." Eleanor answered.

* * *

 **Eleanor's POV.**

I slowly got back up to my feet. Once I got up, my legs gave out. Before I fell to my knees, Terrador caught me with his arm under my shoulder. I looked at Terrador and smiled in graditude. I noticed my pastel green scales were now ghost white, and it looks like they're not turning back anythime soon.

Then I looked at Spyro and saw that he didn't look so good. He looked like most of his life force was drained out of him. Similar to how I feel right now.

"Are you all right, Spyro?" I asked.

"Not really, Eleanor." Spyro answered with a small shake of his head, "That battle drained every last bit of my strength. I can barely even lift my head."

"Yes, it will take some time for your powers to return." Ignitus spoke up. "But they will in time, young dragons. They will in time."

Ignitus then beckoned Cynder to come forward. Though hesitant at first, Cynder came forward in shaky steps.

"Cynder, ever since I failed the night of the raid, I've dreamt of this day." Ignitus said sadly.

"It wasn't just you Ignitus." Volteer assured, earning a nod from the other dragons, "We all failed."

"Be that as it may... We're together again... Thanks to Spyro and Eleanor. Well done, young dragons." Ignitus said.

"Thanks, Ignitus." Spyro said, "But we still don't know what happened to the Dark Master."

"No matter, Spyro." Terrador assured, "There will be plenty of time to talk about the Dark Master later. Now it's time to be grateful for your success."

At this point, Sparx, who for obvious reasons had become bored, suddenly jerked up.

"Their success?" He snapped, "What about me? Just because a lot of weird stuff doesn't come out of my mouth, doesn't mean I didn't help you know."

"Yeah, you were a big help, Sparx." Spyro snickered, "No doubt about it."

Cynder tried to contain her laughter. Sparx ignored their expressions and turned to me, looking for a compliment from me.

"But, just for the record, a lot of weird stuff does come out of that little mouth of yours." I shrugged.

"And what the heck is that supposed to mean?" Sparx snapped, "You know I don't need this. I could've stayed with the..." At this point, he apparently hit a bit of a block. It didn't last long though, "Llama people, whatever, where I was appreciated." He went on, "But no. No, I decided to help the poor helpless dragons, rid the world of evil. What a mistake that was, because I get no thanks. No respect, no love, no credit!"

Spyro and I shook our heads at the rambling dragonfly. Cynder looked at us and we shrugged our shoulders with a smile.

"My goodness... And I though Volteer talked a lot." Ignitus chuckled, looking at the Electric Guardian, who looked slightly winded.

"I left home too, you know." Sparx went on, "I'm a little guy. Yeah, that's right. Maybe you haven't notices because thing are a lot bigger to me than they are to you. And did I back away? Nah, nah, nah. Why? Because I've got moxy, I'm a tough cookie, I've got class…"

At this point, Sparx started crying a bit, but immediately tried to cover it up. I rolled my eyes. I knew the stunt the dragonfly was trying to pull all too well; he was trying to act tough when in reality he was terrified.

"I got a little frog in my throat." He shrugged, "As I was saying, on Tall Plains, they knew a good thing when they saw it. They recognized the value of a quality dragonfly like me. But here I get nothing... Not even a 'Thanks, hey, how are ya doing, good, let me buy you a drink'. I should go back to the swamp... Mom'll make it all good..."

Using my fingers, I counted down Sparx's final breakdown.

"Mommy always does..." Sparx cried, bursting into tears and flying out of the room.

After the whole ordeal was calmed and everything returned to normal, I walked to the balcony and watched the sunset. Spyro was talking to the Guardians, while Sparx was still calming down from his 'little' breakdown. As I watched, I heard footsteps coming from behind me. I looked and saw Cynder approaching me.

"Eleanor? Mind if I ask you something?" She asked me.

"Of course, Cynder." I answered with a nodd.

"Why did you save me from the portal? I've done such terrible things. And you rescued me like I've done nothing to you." She asked, then explained.

I shook my head at her, "Because you _did_ do nothing." I explained, "I just took one look in your eyes and I knew. It was the Dark Master's fault you did those things. I can't hate a dragon who has done things, under the influence of dark magic."

Cynder lightly sulked. I lifted her chin and smiled, "Besides, the only one that doesn't think this way is Sparx. And his vote is out-numbered by six."

Cynder regained her smile. The sun setted and the sky welcomed the dark blue of the night sky. As I stared at the sky, I couldn't help but feel that the entire world around me just went cold. Not as cold as Dante's Freezer, mysterious cold.

I looked at the stars, trying to look for a sign, but even the stars looked dim. I don't understand it.

"See anything, Eleanor?" Spyro asked from beside me.

I looked at him and shook my head, "No. But, I've got a bad feeling."

Spyro nodded his head, "Me too."

* * *

( **A/N: That's it. Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning is finished.**

 **It's a very good thing I saved these chapters, huh? Heheheh.**

 **I'm still thinking of what to do next.**

 **If you views have any ideas, let me know and I'll get back to yah.**

 **Till next time, I'll see you in the next story. ^_^** )


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